A truce arrangement between Israel and Hamas, mediated by the United Nations (UN) and Egypt is expected to be announced at the weekend, according to reports.
The agreement will reportedly last for a year and see the establishment of a cargo shipping lane between Gaza and Cyprus.
Under the reported terms of the agreement, Israel will have security control over the sea traffic between the Gaza Strip and Cyprus. Under the conditions of Israel’s naval blockade, goods heading to Gaza are currently shipped to Israeli ports and then taken into Gaza by trucks.
Israel has imposed a blockade on Gaza since Hamas, which is sworn to Israel’s destruction, violently took control of the territory from the Palestinian Authority in 2007. Israel says the blockade is in place in order to prevent weapons and other military equipment from entering Gaza.
Egypt also imposes a blockade on Gaza to prevent the smuggling of arms from Hamas to Salafist terrorists in the Sinai Province.
The terms are said to be similar to the agreement reached after Operation Protective Edge in 2014. Phases reported to be included are medical and humanitarian assistance to Gaza, reconstruction of Gaza’s infrastructure with foreign funding, and a resolution to the issue of the bodies of missing soldiers, captured civilians and prisoners.
After relative calm since the beginning of the week, Israel on Wednesday opened the Kerem Shalom goods crossing into the Gaza Strip.
Last week, Israel was it by a sustained attack of over 200 rockets and mortars that were fired from Gaza, in the worst violence since 2014.
