Report: UN to end Gaza entry coordination as Israel arrests returnees

The UN has told Palestinian officials it will stop receiving Palestinians returning from Egypt and coordinating their entry into Gaza from mid-November, citing security risks and repeated Israeli arrests, Drop Site News reported, quoting a senior source. The Palestinian source, who is involved in negotiations, said the decision followed Israel’s arrest of a Palestinian cancer patient and her daughter on Tuesday, when the Rafah crossing reopened after a roughly 10-day suspension prompted by the detention of another returnee. “The United Nations will ask the parties concerned to provide an alternative entity to assume this responsibility; however, its withdrawal will proceed regardless of whether an alternative is secured,” the source said. Finding a replacement will be difficult because transporting returnees requires coordination with Israel and travel through dangerous areas within the Yellow and Red Line zones, the source said. While the UN will continue to facilitate medical evacuations, its decision to stop receiving Palestinians returning to Gaza could affect the entire operation of the crossing, the source said.