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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Hamas told by mediators to withdraw fighters from IDF-controlled Gaza by tonight or face Israeli fire |
| 2025-10-31 |
| [IsraelTimes] Egyptian and Qatari mediators notified Hamas on Wednesday night that the group had 24 hours to evacuate its fighters from the Israeli-controlled eastern half of Gaza or risk being exposed to IDF fire, a US official tells The Times of Israel. That deadline expired at 8 p.m. local time this evening, at which point Israel has the approval of the US, Egypt and Qatar to engage Hamas targets on the Israeli side of the Yellow Line that divides it from the half of Gaza under the terror group’s de facto rule, the US official says. The statement notably leaves out Turkey, another mediator of the Gaza ceasefire. Ankara has been one of Israel’s most vocal critics on the global stage and may not have wanted to be tied to a statement giving Jerusalem a green-light to carry out attacks on Hamas. The US official does not elaborate on how the Hamas fighters wound up on the Israeli side of the Yellow Line. A source familiar with the matter tells The Times of Israel that the demarcation has not been fully enforced to date and that it is not always clear to troops on the ground where the line runs in various parts of Gaza, given that it was only drawn up several weeks ago for the deal. Israel already publicly warned Hamas operatives holed up on the eastern side of the Yellow Line to withdraw last week. Defense Minister Israel Katz said on October 20 that he instructed the IDF to convey this warning to Hamas via the US-led international monitoring mechanism overseeing the ceasefire in Gaza. The military has assessed that there are Hamas operatives still in the terror group’s tunnels in areas under IDF control, and that they have been there since before the ceasefire. Two deadly attacks have been carried out by terror operatives against troops in the Rafah area amid the ceasefire. Hamas has claimed that it was not responsible for the attacks because “communication has been cut off” with its operatives in the zones under Israeli control. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #1 |
| Posted by: SteveS 2025-10-31 09:38 |