Gaza government urges new committee to enter enclave as ambulance officer dies in Israeli custody

Authorities in war-torn Gaza have urged the newly established National Committee for the Administration of Gaza to "urgently" enter the enclave as it pledges full cooperation.

This came amid reports that a Palestinian ambulance officer from Gaza had died in Israeli detention. 

On Thursday, the Government Media Office in the war-devastated enclave issued a statement urging the US-backed committee for Gaza - established to oversee the territory’s future administration under the second phase of President Donald Trump’s ceasefire plan - to enter Gaza and begin carrying out its mandate. 

"In light of the ongoing political and administrative developments, and out of keenness to ensure the regular functioning of institutional work and the continuity of essential services, we renew our welcome to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza and stress the importance of its urgent presence to assume its tasks and national responsibilities," the Gaza government media office said. 

It confirmed the government's "full readiness to transfer relevant powers and to take all necessary measures within professional and legal frameworks that safeguard the rights of citizens and employees and ensure the uninterrupted provision of services with the highest levels of efficiency and transparency". 

"All government institutions and departments in Gaza and their employees across various sectors are fully prepared to cooperate with the committee in a manner that serves the public interest, contributes to improving services, alleviates citizens’ suffering and enhances administrative and institutional stability," the statement added. 

It also underscored "the unity of Palestinian land and the political geography between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip”, stressing that "strengthening national unity and internal cohesion constitutes a top national priority at this sensitive stage". 

Nearly a month after its formation was announced, the committee - led by former Palestinian Authority deputy minister Ali Shaath - has yet to enter Gaza.  

One day after its establishment was made public, the body began operating from Cairo in January.

The renewed appeal comes amid Israeli and Palestinian reports this week that Israel is preventing committee members from entering Gaza, while imposing a series of demands and conditions.  

These reportedly include objections related to symbols, the committee’s identity, and a requirement that Hamas be disarmed as a precondition for transferring control of the Strip to another authority. 

This is despite additional reports of American pressure on Israel to move forward with the committee’s work, which operates under the authority of the executive arm of Trump’s newly established Board of Peace, headed by Bulgarian diplomat Nikolay Mladenov. 

As questions persist over the committee’s failure to enter Gaza, Israel attacks have persisted despite the 10 October ceasefire agreement, which was intended to pave the way towards ending Israel’s two-year genocidal war that began on 7 October 2023.

Since the deal was announced, at least 591 Palestinians have been killed and more than 1,578 others wounded in Israeli attacks. 

On Thursday, a Palestinian ambulance officer from Gaza died while being held in Israel’s Negev Prison, more than a year after his arrest, according to a joint statement issued by the Palestinian Prisoner Society and the Palestinian Commission of Detainees Affairs. 

The Palestinian Civil Affairs Authority identified the deceased man as 59-year-old Hatem Ismail Rayan who was detained on 27 December 2024 from Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza.

His son, Moaz, who was injured at the time of his father’s arrest, remains in Israeli custody, the groups said. 

The statement reported that as of 12 January, at least 87 Palestinian detainees whose identities are known have died in Israeli prisons since the start of the war on Gaza.

The causes cited include torture, starvation, sexual abuse, and the systematic denial of basic rights, alongside degrading and inhumane detention conditions. 

The organisations estimate that the total number of Palestinians who have died in Israeli custody has now exceeded 100, noting that dozens of detainees from Gaza remain forcibly disappeared.  

They also stated that dozens of Palestinians were summarily executed in the field.

Israel is additionally reported to be withholding the bodies of 95 deceased prisoners whose identities are known, including 84 who died after the outbreak of the Gaza war. 

Since 1967, at least 324 Palestinian prisoners are known to have died while in Israeli custody, according to the two Palestinian rights bodies. 

These developments come as Israeli forces continued bulldozing operations in Gaza on Friday.  

According to The New Arab's sister site Al-Araby al-Jadeed, the Israeli army carried out four demolition operations targeting residential buildings in the southeast of Khan Younis. 

Israeli forces have previously demolished homes east of Khan Younis in what residents describe as a renewed escalation against civilian neighbourhoods.  

Media reports indicate that the Israeli military has continued demolishing buildings in areas of the Gaza Strip it has occupied since the ceasefire with Hamas came into effect - these areas cover more than half of the devastated territory.

Gaza's government has condemned the demolitions as a violation of the ceasefire agreement, while legal experts and the United Nations have repeatedly warned throughout the Gaza that the destruction of civilian infrastructure could constitute a war crime.