The Israel Defense Forces said Friday that the Ashkelon-Sderot train line was safe to reopen on February 1, nearly two years after the vital route was scrapped amid persistent rocket fire from Gaza.

The announcement came hours after the Prime Minister’s Office announced overnight that Israel had agreed to a ceasefire deal with Hamas.

The military said the decision was reached following a fresh assessment, and after the train line had been beefed up against rocket fire.

“The IDF considers the train a vital, strategic national infrastructure, and a central part of the western Negev’s rehabilitation,” it said. “Therefore, no expense has been spared to allow its return in the best and most secure fashion.”

The IDF said it had prepared for the Sderot-Ashkelon line to reopen by deploying new technologies, physical defenses and surveillance capacities around it.

The military added that it had carried out other activities in northern Gaza and the border region to remove threats to the train line. Earlier this month, the army said it had destroyed a Hamas compound in north Gaza’s........

© The Times of Israel