Israel insists on keeping troops in Gaza. That complicates truce talks with Hamas

Israel insists on keeping troops in Gaza. That complicates truce talks with Hamas
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Israeli soldiers operate in Gaza, as seen from the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border, July 9, 2025. (Reuters)
Israel insists on keeping troops in Gaza. That complicates truce talks with Hamas
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Israeli army vehicles transport a group of soldiers and journalists along the Morag corridor in southern Gaza on June 8, 2025. The Israeli military invited reporters for a tour in the European Hospital in Khan Younis. (AP)
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Israel insists on keeping troops in Gaza. That complicates truce talks with Hamas

Israel insists on keeping troops in Gaza. That complicates truce talks with Hamas
  • Keeping a foothold in the Morag corridor is a key element in Israel’s plan to drive hundreds of thousands of Palestinians south toward a narrow swath of land along the border with Egypt

JERUSALEM: As Israel and Hamas move closer to a ceasefire agreement, Israel says it wants to maintain troops in a southern corridor of the Gaza Strip — a condition that could derail the talks.
An Israeli official said an outstanding issue in the negotiations was Israel’s desire to keep forces in the territory during a 60-day truce, including in the east-west axis that Israel calls the Morag corridor. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to talk with the media about the negotiations.
Keeping a foothold in the Morag corridor is a key element in Israel’s plan to drive hundreds of thousands of Palestinians south toward a narrow swath of land along the border with Egypt, into what it has termed a “humanitarian city.”
Critics fear the move is a precursor to the coerced relocation of much of Gaza’s population of some 2 million people, and part of the Israeli government’s plans to maintain lasting control over the territory.
Hamas, which still holds dozens of hostages and refuses calls by Israel to surrender, wants Israel to withdraw all of its troops as part of any permanent truce. It is adamantly opposed to any lasting Israeli presence inside Gaza.
As part of the proposed truce, Israel and Hamas would hold fire for 60 days, during which time some hostages would be freed and more aid would enter Gaza.
Previous demands by Israel to maintain troops in a separate corridor stalled progress on a ceasefire deal for months.
The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declined to comment on how the Morag corridor was playing into ceasefire talks. Netanyahu was in Washington this week to discuss the ceasefire and other matters with US President Donald Trump, who has pushed both sides to bring an end to the war in Gaza.
Israel’s desire to keep troops in Gaza was among the ceasefire sticking points discussed Tuesday by senior officials from the US, Israel and Qatar, according to a White House official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.
“We want to have peace. We want to get the hostages back. And I think we’re close to doing it,” Trump said Wednesday in response to a question about the officials’ meeting.
Hamas said in a statement late Wednesday that Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza was one of several remaining sticking points in the talks, without mentioning Morag specifically.
Morag corridor is one of three that carve up Gaza
During their 21-month campaign in Gaza, Israeli forces have seized wide swaths of land, including three east-west corridors that have carved up the Palestinian enclave.
In April, Israel seized the Morag corridor — named after a Jewish settlement that existed in Gaza before Israel withdrew from the territory in 2005.
The corridor, located between Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah and its second-largest city Khan Younis, stretches about 12 kilometers (7 miles) from Israel to the Mediterranean coast and is about 1 kilometer (half a mile) wide.
At the time, Netanyahu said it was part of a strategy of “increasing the pressure step by step” on Hamas.
Netanyahu called Morag a “second Philadelphi,” referring to another corridor that runs along Gaza’s border with Egypt. Israel has repeatedly insisted it must maintain control of Philadelphi to prevent cross-border arms smuggling. Egypt denies arms are moved through its territory.
Since the collapse of the last ceasefire in March, Israel has also reasserted control of the Netzarim corridor, which cuts off Gaza’s northern third from the rest of the territory and which it used to prevent Palestinians from returning to northern Gaza before the last truce.
It was not immediately clear how Israeli troops in the Netzarim and Philadelphi corridors factor into the ceasefire negotiations.
Morag allows Israel to set its population movement plan into motion
The foothold in Morag has effectively cut the Rafah area off from the rest of Gaza.
Rafah, once a city of tens of thousands of people, is currently all but flattened and emptied of its population following Israeli evacuation orders.
With those conditions in place, Israel says it seeks to turn the Rafah area into a “sterile zone” free of Hamas militants where it wants to move hundreds of thousands of Palestinians into a “humanitarian city.”
Most of Gaza’s population has already been displaced multiple times throughout the war and squeezed into ever smaller pieces of land. Rights groups see the planned new push to get them to head south as forcible displacement.
Israel’s idea is to use Morag as a screening zone for Palestinians being moved south, to prevent Hamas from infiltrating the area, according to Kobi Michael, a senior researcher at two think tanks, the Institute for National Security Studies and Misgav. That would allow Israeli troops to operate further north without Palestinian civilians getting caught in the crossfire, he said.
A no-go for Hamas
Michael said the move might allow Israel to ramp up the pressure on — and possibly defeat — Hamas in northern Gaza, where guerilla-style fighting continues to dog Israeli troops. And that, he added, could lay the groundwork for an end to the war, which Israel has vowed to continue until Hamas is destroyed.
But critics say the plan to move Palestinians south paves the way for the expulsion of Palestinians from the territory and for Israel to assert control over it, a priority for Netanyahu’s powerful far-right governing partners.
Netanyahu has said that any departures would be “voluntary.” But Palestinians and human rights groups fear that concentrating the population in an area hard-hit by the war with little infrastructure would create catastrophic conditions that leave Palestinians no choice but to leave.
Michael Milshtein, an Israeli expert on Palestinian affairs and former military intelligence officer, called the plan to move Palestinians south through the Morag corridor a “crazy fantasy.” He said the current negotiations could crumble over the Israeli demand because it signaled to Hamas that Israel does not intend to withdraw forces after the ceasefire expires, something Hamas will not accept.
“For Hamas, it’s a no-go,” he said. “If those are the terms, I can’t see Hamas agreeing.”


UN mission in Libya urges immediate de-escalation in Tripoli

UN mission in Libya urges immediate de-escalation in Tripoli
Updated 10 July 2025

UN mission in Libya urges immediate de-escalation in Tripoli

UN mission in Libya urges immediate de-escalation in Tripoli
  • Call follows reports of continued military buildup in and around the capital city
  • Libya has had little stability since a 2011 NATO-backed uprising ousted longtime ruler Muammar Qaddafi

TRIPOLI: The UN Mission in Libya urged on Wednesday all Libyan parties to avoid actions or political rhetoric that could trigger escalation or renewed clashes in Tripoli, following reports of continued military buildup in and around the city.
Libyan Prime Minister Abdulhamid Al-Dbeibah ordered in May the dismantling of what he called irregular armed groups, which was followed by Tripoli’s fiercest clashes in years between two armed groups that killed at least eight civilians.
“The Mission continues its efforts to help de-escalate the situation and calls on all parties to engage in good faith toward this end ... Forces recently deployed in Tripoli must withdraw without delay,” the UN Mission said on social media.
A Tripoli-based Government of National Unity under Al-Dbeibah was installed through a UN-backed process in 2021 but the Benghazi-based House of Representatives no longer recognizes its legitimacy.
Libya has had little stability since a 2011 NATO-backed uprising ousted longtime autocrat Muammar Qaddafi. The country split in 2014 between rival eastern and western factions, though an outbreak of major warfare paused with a truce in 2020.
While eastern Libya has been dominated for a decade by commander Khalifa Haftar and his Libyan National Army, control in Tripoli and western Libya has been splintered among numerous armed factions. 


Yemen crisis ‘deeply volatile and unpredictable,’ UN special envoy tells Security Council

UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg is seen on a screen during a meeting of the United Nations Security Council.
UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg is seen on a screen during a meeting of the United Nations Security Council.
Updated 09 July 2025

Yemen crisis ‘deeply volatile and unpredictable,’ UN special envoy tells Security Council

UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg is seen on a screen during a meeting of the United Nations Security Council.
  • Condemnation of renewed Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping, the first for 7 months
  • Humanitarian chief warns of 17m people going hungry in the country

NEW YORK CITY: The UN Security Council convened on Wednesday for a briefing on the escalating conflict and humanitarian crisis in Yemen, amid growing concerns about regional instability and the resumption of Houthi attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea.

The UN’s special envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, described the present period as “deeply volatile and unpredictable,” while noting that there were some fragile hopes for a deescalation following the recent ceasefire agreement between Iran and Israel. 

However, he cautioned that the Houthis continue to launch missile attacks against Israel, and recently targeted two commercial vessels in the Red Sea, resulting in civilian casualties and potential environmental damage. They were the first such assaults on international shipping in more than seven months.

“These attacks threaten freedom of navigation and risk dragging Yemen further into regional crises,” Grundberg warned, as he underscored the imperative need to safeguard civilian infrastructure and maintain stability in the country.

He emphasized that while the front lines in the Yemen conflict have largely held, military activity persists across several governorates, with troop movements suggesting an appetite for escalation among some factions.

Grundberg urged all parties involved in the conflict to demonstrate a genuine commitment to peace, including the release of all conflict-related detainees, a process that has been stalled for more than a year.

He also highlighted the dire economic situation in the country, describing it as the “most active front line” of the conflict, with currency devaluation and worsening food insecurity pushing millions toward famine.

In a call for practical cooperation, Grundberg praised recent developments such as the reopening of Al-Dhalea Road, which he said has eased movement and improved economic activity. He urged both sides to build on such progress to restore salaries, services and oil production.

The UN’s under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, Tom Fletcher, briefed council members on the accelerating food-security crisis in the country.

“More than 17 million people are going hungry in Yemen, with numbers expected to rise to over 18 million by September,” he said, highlighting the threat to more than a million malnourished children under the age of 5.

Despite funding shortfalls, Fletcher said progress had been made in controlling cholera outbreaks and scaling up nutritional treatments, with more than 650,000 children receiving life-saving aid.

He also cited local-level agreements in Taiz governorate for the joint management of water supplies, and the reopening of a key road between Aden and Sanaa that is facilitating civilian and commercial transport for the first time in seven years.

However, he stressed the urgent need for increased funding of relief efforts, and called for the immediate release of detained UN workers and employees of nongovernmental organizations, echoing Grundberg’s demands.

The US Ambassador to the UN, Dorothy Shea, condemned the recent Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, including the sinking of the cargo vessel Magic Seas, describing them as “destabilizing” and a violation of freedom of navigation.

She urged the Security Council to renew calls for transparency regarding Houthi attacks on commercial vessels, and reaffirmed the US position in support of Israel’s right to self-defense against Houthi missile and drone attacks. She also condemned the continuing detention by the Houthis of UN and NGO workers and called for their immediate, unconditional release.

“The United States remains committed to depriving the Houthis of resources that sustain their terrorist actions,” she said, stressing that any assistance provided to the Houthis constituted a violation of US law as a result of the group’s designation by Washington as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.

In addition, Shea called for the termination of the UN Mission to Support the Hudaydah Agreement, which she described as outdated and ineffective. Established following the 2018 Stockholm Agreement between the Yemeni government and the Houthis, the role of the mission has been to monitor the ceasefire agreement in the port city of Hodeidah (the UN uses an alternative spelling of the city’s name), oversee the redeployment of forces, monitor ports to ensure they are used for civilian purposes, and facilitate coordination between stakeholders in Yemen, including UN agencies.


US sanctions UN rights expert for Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese

US sanctions UN rights expert for Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese
Updated 09 July 2025

US sanctions UN rights expert for Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese

US sanctions UN rights expert for Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese
  • US Secretary of State Marco Rubio attacked Albanese for her criticism of Washington policy on Gaza and for ‘biased and malicious activities’

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday announced Washington was sanctioning the United Nations special expert on the Palestinian territories, following her criticism of Washington policy on Gaza.
“Today I am imposing sanctions on UN Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese for her illegitimate and shameful efforts to prompt (International Criminal Court) action against US and Israeli officials, companies, and executives,” Rubio said on social media.
In a subsequent statement, he slammed the UN expert’s strident criticism of the United States and said she recommended to the ICC that arrest warrants be issued targeting Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Rubio also attacked her for “biased and malicious activities,” and accused her of having “spewed unabashed antisemitism (and) support for terrorism.”
He said she escalated her contempt for the United States by writing “threatening letters” to several US companies, making what Rubio called unfounded accusations and recommending the ICC pursue prosecutions of the companies and their executives.
“We will not tolerate these campaigns of political and economic warfare, which threaten our national interests and sovereignty,” Rubio said.
Albanese has leveled broadsides against the policies of US President Donald Trump, particularly the plan he announced in early February to take over the Gaza Strip and resettle its residents elsewhere.
That proposal, short on details, faced a resounding rejection from Palestinians, Middle East leaders and the United Nations.
Albanese dismissed the Trump proposal as “utter nonsense” and an “international crime” that will sow panic around the world.
“It’s unlawful, immoral and... completely irresponsible because it will make the regional crisis even worse,” she said on February 5 during a visit to Copenhagen.


US envoy calls for change in Lebanese political culture in interview with LBCI Lebanon

US special envoy Thomas Barrack talks to Lebanese television presenter Ricardo Karam. (Screenshot)
US special envoy Thomas Barrack talks to Lebanese television presenter Ricardo Karam. (Screenshot)
Updated 09 July 2025

US envoy calls for change in Lebanese political culture in interview with LBCI Lebanon

US special envoy Thomas Barrack talks to Lebanese television presenter Ricardo Karam. (Screenshot)
  • Thomas Barrack says Hezbollah is a Lebanese problem, up to Lebanese people to solve it

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s politicians have spent 60 years “denying, detouring and deflecting,” the US special envoy Tom Barrack said in an interview broadcast on Tuesday.
Barrack has been in Lebanon to talk with political leaders over Washington’s proposals to disarm the powerful militant group Hezbollah.
Asked whether the Lebanese politicians he has been dealing with were actually engaging with him or just buying time, the diplomat responded “both.”
“The Lebanese political culture is deny, detour and deflect,” Barrack said. “This is the way that it's been for 60 years, and this is the task we have in front of us. It has to change.”
After meeting President Joseph Aoun on Monday, he reacted positively to the Lebanese government’s response to a US plan to remove Hezbollah’s weapons.
In an interview with Lebanese broadcaster LBCI, Barrack said he believed the president, prime minister and the speaker of the house were being “candid, honest, and forthright” with him.
But he warned Lebanon’s politicians that the region is changing and if the politicians didn’t want to change as well “just tell us, and we'll not interfere.”
While he did not disclose the details of the US proposals, or the Lebanese response, Barrack said Lebanon’s leadership had to be willing to take a risk.
“We need results from these leaders,” he said.
Lebanon’s politicians have long been accused of corruption and putting self-interest first ahead of the good of the nation and the Lebanese people.
Public anger came to a head in 2019 with mass public protests against corruption and financial hardship.
The Lebanese economy spiraled into a financial crisis with the country defaulting on its debt and the currency collapsing.
Barrack, who is also Washington’s ambassador to Turkiye and special envoy for Syria, said the US was offering Lebanon a helping hand rather than trying to interfere in its politics.
“We’ve only said one thing, if you want us to help you, we're here to usher, we’re here to help. We’re here to protect to the extent that we can,” he said.
“But we’re not going to intervene in regime change. We’re not going to intervene in politics. And if you don’t want us, no problem, we’ll go home. That’s it.”
Barrack said Hezbollah, which is viewed as a terrorist organization by the US and is also a political party with 13 MPs in Lebanon “is a Lebanese problem, not a world problem.”
“We’ve already, from a political point of view, said it’s a terrorist organization. They mess with us anywhere, just as the president (Trump) has established on a military basis, they’re going to have a problem with us. How that gets solved within Lebanon is another issue … It’s up to the Lebanese people.”
Barrack said the disarmament of Hezbollah had always been based on a simple fact for President Donald Trump: “One nation, one people, one army.”
“If that's the case, if that’s what this political body chooses, then we will usher, will help, will influence, and will be that intermediary with all of the potential combatants or adversaries who are on your borders,” Barrack said.
The diplomat dismissed media speculation that the US had set timelines for its proposals, but said while Trump had been extremely proactive on Lebanon, he would not wait long for progress.
“Nobody is going to stick around doing this until next May,” he said. “I don’t think there’s ever been a president since Dwight Eisenhower who came out with such ferocity for Lebanon. On his own, he (Trump) has the courage, he has the dedication, he has the ability. What he doesn’t have is patience.
“If Lebanon wants to just keep kicking this can down the road, they can keep kicking the can down the road, but we’re not going to be here in May having this discussion.”
During the near hour-long, wide-ranging interview, Barrack, whose grandparents emigrated from Lebanon to the US, everybody across Lebanon’s many religions and sects was tired of war and discontent.
“If we have 19 different religions and 19 different communities and 19 different confessionals, there's one thing that’s above that, and that’s being Lebanese,” he said.
The Trump administration is keen to support Lebanon and Aoun, who became president in January, as the country struggles to emerge from years of economic hardship, political turmoil and regional unrest.
Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, had become the most powerful military force in the country and a major political power, but was significantly weakened by an Israeli campaign against the group last year.
Its weapons arsenal has remained an ongoing thorn in the side of US-Lebanon relations.
Along with disarming Hezbollah, the US proposals presented to Lebanese officials by Barrack last month are thought to include economic reforms to help the country move forward.


UN chief outlines four options for embattled Palestinian relief agency UNRWA

A review of UNRWA has identified four possible ways forward for organization that has lost US funding and been banned by Israel.
A review of UNRWA has identified four possible ways forward for organization that has lost US funding and been banned by Israel.
Updated 09 July 2025

UN chief outlines four options for embattled Palestinian relief agency UNRWA

A review of UNRWA has identified four possible ways forward for organization that has lost US funding and been banned by Israel.
  • UNRWA is also dealing with a dire financial crisis, facing a $200-million deficit
  • US was UNRWA’s biggest donor, but former President Joe Biden paused funding in January 2024

UNITED NATIONS: A review of the embattled United Nations Palestinian relief agency UNRWA, ordered by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, has identified four possible ways forward for the organization that has lost US funding and been banned by Israel.
The proposals, seen by Reuters, are: inaction that could see the potential collapse of UNRWA; a reduction of services; the creation of an executive board to advise UNRWA; or maintaining UNRWA’s rights-based core while transferring services to host governments and the Palestinian Authority. While Guterres ordered the strategic assessment of UNRWA in April as part of his wider UN reform efforts, only the 193-member UN General Assembly can change UNRWA’s mandate.
UNRWA was established by the General Assembly in 1949 following the war surrounding the founding of Israel. It provides aid, health and education to millions of Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.
“I believe it is imperative that Member States take action to protect the rights of Palestine refugees, the mandate of UNRWA and regional peace and security,” Guterres wrote in a letter dated on Monday and seen by Reuters submitting the UNRWA assessment to the General Assembly. The review comes after Israel adopted a law in October, which was enacted on January 30, that bans UNRWA’s operation on Israeli land — including East Jerusalem, which Israel annexed in a move not recognized internationally — and contact with Israeli authorities.
UNRWA is also dealing with a dire financial crisis, facing a $200-million deficit. The US was UNRWA’s biggest donor, but former President Joe Biden paused funding in January 2024 after Israel accused about a dozen UNRWA staff of taking part in the deadly October 7, 2023, attack by Palestinian militants Hamas that triggered the war in Gaza. The funding halt was then extended by the US Congress and President Donald Trump.
Four options
The UN has said nine UNRWA staff may have been involved in the Hamas attack and were fired. A Hamas commander in Lebanon — killed in September by Israel — was also found to have had an UNRWA job. The UN has vowed to investigate all accusations and repeatedly asked Israel for evidence, which it says has not been provided. Israel has long been critical of UNRWA, while UNRWA has said it has been the target of a “fierce disinformation campaign” to “portray the agency as a terrorist organization.” Guterres and the UN Security Council have described UNRWA as the backbone of the aid response in Gaza.
The first possible option outlined by the UNRWA strategic assessment was inaction and the potential collapse of the agency, noting that “this scenario would exacerbate humanitarian need, heighten social unrest, and deepen regional fragility” and “represent a significant abandonment of Palestine refugees by the international community.”
The second option was to reduce services by “aligning UNRWA’s operations with a reduced and more predictable level of funding through service cuts and transfer of some functions to other actors.”
The third option was to create an executive board to advise and support UNRWA’s commissioner-general, enhance accountability and take responsibility for securing multi-year funding and aligning UNRWA’s funding and services. The final potential option would see UNRWA maintain its functions as custodian of Palestine refugee rights, registration, and advocacy for refugee access to services, “while progressively shifting service provision to host governments and the Palestinian Authority, with strong international commitment to funding.”