Israel Prevents International Stability Force from Entering Gaza Strip

SadaNews - In a new development regarding the entry of the International Stability Force to Gaza, a media report stated that Israel has prevented mission representatives from reaching the sector, while the National Committee for Gaza Administration announced it received preliminary approval for their entry.

Israeli public broadcasting agency (Kan 11) reported on Wednesday that "the political leadership has prevented the multinational forces under the (U.S. President Donald) Trump's peace plan from conducting a field visit in the Gaza Strip that was scheduled for last week."

Kan 11 noted in its report that representatives of the multinational forces (ISF) arrived from Indonesia, Morocco, Kosovo, Kazakhstan, and Albania to Israel last week, where they met with senior officials in the Israeli army and representatives from the American leadership.

The report mentioned that the representatives of the forces were "supposed to visit Rafah, where the forces were set to start their operations during the visit, but the Israeli army prevented them from doing so at the directive of the political leadership."

The report quoted a source described as well-informed that "Israel conditions any steps towards disarming Hamas and forming a technocratic government before proceeding forward."

It noted that a "strategic meeting" was held earlier this week, chaired by Israeli Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, to discuss the situation in Gaza, during which he instructed the army to "prepare for the possibility of returning to combat."

Zamir stated to the meeting participants that "Hamas is stalling to buy time, aiming to strengthen its military power and its governance, and we will not allow that."

In a related context, the head of the National Committee for Gaza Administration, Ali Shath, announced on Wednesday evening that he received preliminary approval for the committee's entry into the sector, confirming that its members are eager to start their work immediately.

Shath said in a statement published on "Facebook": "We received preliminary approval for the committee's entry into Gaza through the representative of the Council of Peace, Nikolai Mladenov."

He added: "We will ensure that we start our work immediately and carry out our responsibilities towards our afflicted people."

Shath did not specify in the statement when the committee would head to the Gaza Strip.

The "National Committee for Gaza Administration" is a non-political body responsible for managing day-to-day civil service affairs, composed of Palestinian national figures, in addition to its head, Ali Shath, and began its work from the Egyptian capital, Cairo, in mid-January last year, but has not yet started operations from the Gaza Strip.

This committee is one of four structures designated to manage the transitional phase in Gaza in addition to the "Council of Peace," the Gaza Executive Council, and the International Stability Force, according to the U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to end the war in Gaza.

Despite announcing Trump in mid-January last year the start of the second phase of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, Israel continues to violate it by conducting bombing, demolition, and gunfire operations, leading to human and material losses.

The agreement came into effect on October 10 of last year, and was supposed to end the war initiated by Israel on October 8, 2023, which lasted for two years and resulted in over 72,000 martyrs, more than 172,000 injured, and massive destruction affecting 90% of civil infrastructure.