CAIRO

Egypt rejects the deployment of Egyptian forces in the Gaza Strip, according to two high-level sources on Sunday. 

“Egypt rejects the entry of any Egyptian forces into the Gaza Strip,” the state-affiliated Al-Qahera News channel said, citing one source.

“Arranging the situation in Gaza after Israel’s ongoing military operation is a Palestinian matter,” it added.

The source said Cairo informed all parties that the release of Israeli hostages and halting Israel’s military offensive “must be realized through a permanent cease-fire and hostage swap deal.”

Israel estimates that around 120 Israeli hostages are held by Palestinian group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas insists on a permanent cease-fire as a condition for any potential hostage exchange deal, which the Israeli government opposes.

On June 25, Israeli National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi claimed that a plan to replace Hamas in Gaza would begin soon.

Another Egyptian source said Egypt rejects any Israeli supervision at the Rafah crossing, Gaza’s only window to the outside world.

“Egypt insists on the complete withdrawal of the Israeli army from the Palestinian side of the crossing,” the source said.

The channel, citing a security source, also denied that Egypt has agreed to relocate the Rafah crossing and build a new terminal near the Kerem Shalom crossing.

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas.

Nearly 37,900 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and 87,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Over eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala