Trump had said he would consider allowing Israeli forces to resume fighting in Gaza if Hamas fails to uphold its end of the ceasefire deal that he brokered
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Saturday that the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt will remain closed until further notice. The reopening, he said, will depend on Hamas handing over the bodies of deceased hostages, as both sides continue to trade blame over violations of the US-mediated ceasefire.
His remarks came shortly after the Palestinian embassy in Egypt declared that the Rafah crossing, the main exit and entry point for Gazans, would reopen on Monday for entry into the enclave. The conflicting statements have added confusion to an already tense situation.
The Israeli government and Hamas have accused each other for days of breaching the ceasefire terms. Late Saturday in Washington, the State Department said it had received “credible reports indicating an imminent ceasefire violation by Hamas against the people of Gaza.” It added that the alleged planned attack would represent a “direct and grave violation of the ceasefire agreement.”
The department stated that “measures will be taken to protect the people of Gaza and preserve the integrity of the ceasefire” should Hamas proceed, without offering further details. Former President Donald Trump, who brokered the truce, has said he may allow Israel to resume military operations if Hamas fails to uphold its commitments.
The group has recently carried out a security crackdown in urban areas vacated by Israeli forces, marked by public executions and clashes with local armed clans.
Fragile truce and formidable obstacles to peace
In a statement on Saturday night, Hamas accused Netanyahu of violating the ceasefire agreement and reneging on promises made to mediators. The group argued that closing Rafah would block access to equipment needed to locate the remaining hostage bodies under rubble, thereby delaying their recovery and handover.
Israel said it received two more bodies late on Saturday, bringing the total to 12 out of 28 under the US-brokered ceasefire and hostage deal agreed last week. The war has caused a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, displacing nearly the entire population, with famine confirmed by a global hunger monitor and local health services overwhelmed.
The dispute over the return of bodies and humanitarian aid underscores the fragility of the truce. It also threatens to disrupt other elements of President Trump’s 20-point peace plan aimed at ending the conflict. Under the agreement, Hamas released all 20 living Israeli hostages it had held for two years in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners detained in Israel.
Israel has accused Hamas of delaying the handover of deceased hostages, while Hamas says the scale of destruction in Gaza makes locating all remains difficult. The deal also requires Israel to return 360 bodies of Palestinian militants in exchange for the deceased Israeli hostages, with 15 bodies returned for each Israeli body received so far.
Rafah has largely been closed since May 2024. The ceasefire agreement calls for increased humanitarian aid into Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of people were found to be suffering from famine as of August, according to the IPC global hunger monitor.
After an 11-week aid cut off in March, Israel resumed deliveries in July and has expanded them further since the truce. Around 560 metric tons of food have entered Gaza daily on average since the ceasefire, still far short of the need, according to the UN World Food Programme.
Major challenges continue to impede Trump’s peace initiative, including the question of Hamas disarmament, Gaza’s future governance, the composition of an international stabilisation force, and steps toward establishing a Palestinian state.
(With agency inputs)
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