ISTANBUL: Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is expected to call at a meeting in Istanbul on Monday for arrangements to be made as soon as possible to ensure the security and administration of Gaza by Palestinians, a foreign ministry source said on Sunday. The foreign ministers of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Pakistan and Indonesia are set to join the meeting on ceasefire developments and the humanitarian situation in Gaza, the Turkish foreign ministry source said. The source said Fidan was expected to "emphasise the importance of coordinated action by Muslim countries for the ceasefire to evolve into a lasting peace."
Countries taking part in the Istanbul talks all attended a meeting with US President Donald Trump in New York in September on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. The US-brokered Gaza truce, which left thorny issues like the disarmament of Palestinian group Hamas and a timeline for Israeli withdrawal from Gaza unresolved, has been tested by periodic violence since coming into force.
The source said Fidan is set to tell the meeting that Israel is "making excuses" to end the ceasefire and emphasise the need for the international community to "take a resolute stance against Israel's provocative actions". He was also set to say that humanitarian aid entering Gaza is insufficient and Israel has not fulfilled its obligations in this regard. Relations between Türkiye and Israel have hit new lows during the Gaza war, with President Tayyip Erdogan harshly criticising Israel's attacks on the enclave. Türkiye helped persuade Hamas to accept Trump's peace plan and has expressed a willingness to take part in an international task force to monitor ceasefire implementation. However, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said last Monday that Israel won't accept the presence of Turkish armed forces in Gaza under the US plan to end the war.
On Saturday, the partial remains of three deceased individuals handed over to Israel by Hamas in Gaza overnight are not those of any of the hostages held in the Palestinian territory, Israeli media reported. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli government on the reports. The International Committee of the Red Cross said late on Friday it had facilitated the transfer of the remains from the Gaza Strip to Israeli authorities for identification.
Israeli news outlets Army Radio, Kan News and N12 News, however, reported that DNA testing by forensic authorities had determined they were not those of known hostages. Hamas said in a statement on Saturday that it had initially offered three samples from unidentified bodies to Israeli authorities for testing. Israel refused, it said, insisting on the full remains, a condition the group later agreed to. The bodies of 11 hostages are thought to still be in Gaza, including those of two foreign nationals. Hamas has released 20 living hostages and handed over the remains of 17 others since a ceasefire with Israel took effect on October 10 after a devastating two-year war.
Separately, the Israeli military said in a statement on Sunday that it had killed four Hezbollah members. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the Lebanese government must fulfil its commitment to disarm Hezbollah and remove the group from southern Lebanon. Katz said maximum enforcement efforts would continue and intensify to protect Israeli residents in the north. Under the ceasefire accord, Lebanon agreed that only state security forces should bear arms, which means Hezbollah must be fully disarmed.
Lebanese army sources said they had blown up so many Hezbollah arms caches that they had run out of explosives and they expect to complete their sweep of the country's south by the end of the year. Hezbollah has publicly committed to the ceasefire and has not opposed the seizures of unmanned weapons caches in the south. It has not fired on Israel since the November truce. — Reuters
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