Jerusalem: Gaza's Rafah border crossing with Egypt is to reopen on Saturday following a fourth exchange of hostages and prisoners under a truce agreement, a Hamas official and a source with knowledge of the discussions said.
"The mediators informed Hamas of Israel's approval to open Rafah crossing tomorrow, Saturday, after the completion of the fourth batch of prisoner exchange," the Hamas official said.
The source explained that injured Palestinians would be evacuated from the territory at the crossing, "as per the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release agreement".
The Rafah border crossing with Egypt was one of the main entry points into the Palestinian territory and a vital conduit for aid.
But the border has been closed since Israeli forces seized the Palestinian side in May last year.
The European Union's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Friday the 27-member bloc had deployed a monitoring mission at the Rafah crossing "at the request of the Palestinians and the Israelis".
"It will support Palestinian border personnel and allow the transfer of individuals out of Gaza, including those who need medical care," she wrote on X.
Israel and Hamas are to carry out their fourth hostage-prisoner swap of the Gaza ceasefire on Saturday as part of a truce agreement that came into effect on January 19.
So far 15 hostages have been handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
Israeli campaign group, the Hostage and Missing Families Forum, named the Israeli captives to be released on Saturday as Yarden Bibas, dual American national Keith Siegel and dual French citizen Ofer Kalderon.
In exchange, Israel will free 90 prisoners, nine of whom are serving life sentences, the Palestinian Prisoners' Club advocacy group said.
Meanwhile, Britain, France and Germany on Friday reiterated their "grave concern" over Israel implementing a law forbidding any contact between its officials and UN Palestinian relief agency UNRWA.
"We urge the government of Israel to work with international partners, including the UN, to ensure continuity of operations," a joint statement from the three nations, published by the British government, said.
The law, which was adopted in October and took effect on Thursday, bans UNRWA from operating on Israeli land and prevents the agency from having any contact with Israeli authorities.
The UN Palestinian relief agency said its humanitarian work across the occupied territories and Gaza was still ongoing on Friday despite an Israeli ban that took effect a day before and what it described as hostility towards its staff.
"We continue to provide services," Juliette Touma, director of communications of UNRWA, said in a press briefing in Geneva.
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