JERUSALEM:
Israel insisted on Sunday that it will maintain control of security inside Gaza despite signing up to a US-brokered ceasefire that foresees the deployment of an international security force.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told ministers that Israel would decide for itself where and when to strike its foes and which countries would be allowed to send troops to police the truce.
“Israel is an independent state. We will defend ourselves by our own means and we will continue to determine our fate,” Netanyahu said. “We do not seek anyone’s approval for this. We control our security.”
Meanwhile, AFP footage showed an Egyptian convoy in Gaza bringing rescuers and heavy machinery to speed up the search for the remains of deceased Israeli hostages Hamas says are lost in the rubble of the devastated Palestinian territory.
Low-loader lorries flying the Egyptian flag transported bulldozers and mechanical diggers into Gaza, accompanied by tipper trucks sounding their horns and flashing their lights, en route to an Egyptian aid committee based in Al-Zawayda.
Israel government spokeswoman Shosh Bedrosian said Netanyahu had personally approved the arrival of the Egyptian team.
“Now, this is a technical team only, and none of these personnel are in the military,” she said. “The team are allowed entry beyond the IDF’s Yellow Line position into Gaza territory to conduct the search for our hostages.”
Under the terms of a US-brokered ceasefire, as Israeli forces withdraw after the end of two years of brutal fighting against Hamas, an international force, expected to be drawn from mainly Arab or Muslim countries, is supposed to secure Gaza.
But Israel opposes any role for its regional rival Turkey and Netanyahu, under fire from hardliners in his own coalition for even agreeing the ceasefire, took a stern line on Sunday as government ministers met in Jerusalem.
