Israel to close Gaza border crossing despite ceasefire talks: Palestinian media

Israel is reportedly planning to close the only pedestrian border crossing into the Gaza Strip on Sunday, despite an earlier announcement that it was in the "final stretch” of reaching a ceasefire agreement with the Islamist faction Hamas that governs the coastal enclave.

According to several Palestinian media reports, Israel announced overnight to Gazan resident that the crossing would be closed aside from special humanitarian cases and medical emergencies.

The unexpected move comes after a spate of violent clashes and back-and-forth rocket fire between Gaza and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

The ceasefire would apparently be based on the understanding that was reached between Israel and Hamas after the 2014 Gaza War, Kahlil al-Hayya was quoted as saying, adding that Hamas is interested in signing an accord.

According to one report, the reason for the closure is the most recent flare-up of violent demonstrations on Friday as part of the “March of Return” which saw some 5,000 Palestinians participating and two killed by IDF fire.

Israel has also denied reaching any kind of agreement with Hamas regarding a ceasefire.

Earlier on Thursday, the London-based Arabic-language Al-Hayat daily reported that the head of Egyptian intelligence, General Abbas Kamel, made a secret visit to Tel Aviv on Wednesday to iron out details of a long-term truce. Kamel’s reported visit to Tel Aviv is the latest in a series of unusual diplomatic meetings between officials involved in the negotiations.

Hezbollah-affiliated media network Al Mayadeen published a report on Thursday claiming that Qatar will play a large role in the arrangement, funding Hamas officials’ salaries as well as fuel for the strip.

While Israel and Qatar have no formal relations, they have been coordinating on Gaza rehabilitation efforts for a number of years. In 2014 they established the Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism (GRM) in an effort to bring reconstruction materials considered potentially 'dual use' - having both civilian and military applications - into the blockaded enclave through an Israeli-controlled border crossing.