Egypt says Gaza truce must ‘start without delay’

Egypt’s foreign ministry said Thursday the implementation of a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip must “start without delay”, a day after mediators announced Israel and Hamas had reached a truce.

The agreement, announced by mediators Qatar, the United States and Egypt on Wednesday, is set to take effect on Sunday and involve the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, after which the terms of a permanent end to the war would be finalised.

Since the deal was announced, the Gaza civil defence agency said at least 80 people were killed and hundreds wounded in strikes by the Israeli military, which said Thursday it had struck about 50 targets over the past day.

In a statement, the Egyptian foreign ministry called for an immediate start to the truce and stressed “the need for the parties to adhere to its provisions and work to implement its stages on the specified dates”.

It also said Egypt was ready to host an international conference on the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, where the United Nations has said it would take over a decade to rebuild civilian infrastructure.

Cairo on Thursday called for the rapid, safe and effective distribution of humanitarian aid, as well as “early recovery projects in preparation for reconstruction”.

On Wednesday, state-linked Al-Qahera News reported coordination was “underway” to reopen the Rafah crossing on the Egypt-Gaza border to allow the entry of aid.