Italy says monitoring mission, which was halted when Hamas seized control of Strip in 2007, 'was launched at the request of Israel and the PA'

The 27-nation bloc set up a civilian mission in 2005 to help monitor the crossing, but it was suspended two years later after the militant Islamist group Hamas took control of Gaza.

For the EU Border Assistance Mission in Rafah to effectively restart it needed a cessation of hostilities between terrorist organisation Hamas and Israel, which happened on 15 January when the two parties to the conflict signed a ceasefire, which then entered into force on 19 January.

The European Union is in talks to revive a civilian mission to monitor the border crossing between Gaza and Egypt at Rafah following the announcement of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said.

The EU is prepared to redeploy a monitoring mission to the Rafah ... but that was suspended two years later after militant Islamists Hamas took control of Gaza. The comments came as Israel's security cabinet met Friday to vote on a Gaza ceasefire and ...

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan met with Hamas leader Muhammad Ismail Darwish in Ankara on Wednesday, Erdogan's office said in a statement.

Crowds of displaced Palestinians made the arduous journey back to heavily destroyed northern Gaza for a second day Tuesday, under a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. More than 375,000 Palestinians have crossed into northern Gaza since Israel allowed their return on Monday morning,

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says President Donald Trump has invited him to visit the White House on Feb. 4. This will make Netanyahu the first foreign leader to visit Washington in Trump’s second term.

Qatar prepares for the start of negotiations on the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement as thousands return to their devastated homes