Israel Prepares to Open Rafah Crossing for Passengers While Blocking Humanitarian Aid to Gaza

Israel is preparing to reopen the Rafah crossing for passenger movement while tightening the chokehold on aid, cutting promised relief and keeping Gaza starved.

“The United Nations has called on Israel to immediately open all border crossings to allow humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, which remains under siege and heavily damaged”

MVNU

ZDFheute reports Israel, coordinated with Egypt, is preparing to open Rafah for passenger traffic, while insisting aid will continue only via other gates like Kerem Shalom.

DW

The Guardian reports Israel has halved aid truck entries and delayed Rafah’s reopening, tying access to the return of bodies of Israeli hostages.

NPR says the ceasefire promised 600 trucks a day to avert famine, but Israel announced it will slash that to 300 and keep fuel and gas throttled.

LAist and China Daily report Israel closed Rafah and reduced aid, citing delays in returning bodies, even as the opposing group says Israeli destruction makes retrieval difficult.

The net result is passenger passage poised to resume while essential aid remains blocked or sharply curtailed.

This squeeze on aid unfolds under a Trump-brokered ceasefire that traded people for people and bodies for bodies while leaving Gaza’s basic survival hostage to Israeli discretion.

France 24 reports a partial exchange: a Palestinian group released 20 surviving Israeli hostages in return for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, with disputes over returning deceased hostages’ bodies.

The Guardian

NPR details that Israel says the group released the last 20 living hostages as Israel freed about 1,700 prisoners, and Israel agreed to return 360 Palestinian detainee bodies, with 90 delivered so far.

Anadolu Ajansı outlines Trump’s first phase: a Gaza ceasefire, exchange of captives for prisoners, and gradual Israeli withdrawal, with a second phase aimed at new governance without the militant group and disarmament.

RBC-Ukraine says the group also returned four coffins, but Israel vows to keep forces in Gaza until the militant group disarms.

WHEC adds that fewer than a dozen of 28 deceased hostages’ remains have been returned and that Israel may resume attacks if the militant group does not disarm.

Aid groups and UN officials report that Israel is starving Gaza while Palestinians suffer mass death, which human rights groups and a UN inquiry describe as genocide.

“The article discusses the fragile ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, brokered with U”

The Guardian

Al Jazeera reports nearly 68,000 Palestinians have been killed, famine is occurring in the northern region, and human rights organizations along with a UN inquiry have made explicit accusations of genocide.

Al-Jazeera Net also cites more than 67,000 deaths and 170,000 injuries, mostly among women and children, and references the UN’s declaration of famine in late August.

France 24 notes that the UN declared famine in August, but Israel disputes this claim, highlighting Israel’s ongoing denial despite evidence of starvation.

The Guardian states that aid agencies are requesting thousands of trucks daily and the opening of northern crossings, but Israel has reduced entries by half and delayed the reopening of the Rafah crossing.

MVNU adds that the UN is urging Israel to open all crossings immediately, emphasizing that the success of any ceasefire depends on delivering food, medical supplies, fuel, and shelter.

Israeli forces continue to kill Palestinians during the ceasefire.

France 24 reports Israeli fire killed three Palestinians in Gaza, with the military claiming ceasefire violations.

Al Jazeera

Dunya News similarly reports Israeli forces killed three Palestinians and blames were placed by the Israeli military on Palestinian violations.

El HuffPost reports Israeli forces killed six Palestinians near the “yellow line” and kept firing tanks.

The report also states that Hamas accuses Israel of ceasefire violations and intensifies internal control.

NPR and LAist add that while the ceasefire mostly holds on paper, Hamas accuses Israel of ongoing attacks that violate it.

These accounts document Israeli troops shooting and killing Palestinians despite the truce.

What comes next is a controlled reopening for people, continued aid strangulation, and mounting international pressure.

“A ceasefire deal for Gaza was signed by US President Donald Trump and regional leaders in Sharm el-Sheikh, including provisions to resume aid deliveries”

Al Jazeera

ZDFheute says Rafah may open for passenger traffic as soon as Thursday, while aid continues through inspected crossings like Kerem Shalom.

Al-Jazeera Net

The Guardian says the EU is ready to deploy a mission to Rafah if access improves, and aid groups want heavy equipment and northern corridors opened to reach hundreds of thousands of displaced people.

WHEC reports WHO and WFP are delivering only limited supplies under heavy restrictions and that the UN humanitarian chief is calling for more shipments.

It also notes Israel confirmed the Red Cross received two more hostage bodies and that Israel said a previously returned body wasn’t a hostage.

China Daily and NPR capture the core dispute over bodies and access: a militant group says rubble and Israeli military presence make recovering bodies difficult, while Israel cuts or freezes crossings and shipments.

NPR adds Israel will now cut promised daily trucks to 300.

These details underline a reality: Israel is preparing to let some people cross while keeping Gaza deprived of fuel, food, medicine, and reconstruction materials.