Israel Postpones Gaza Border Reopening, Halts Humanitarian Aid Amid Rising Tensions

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Israel has delayed the reopening of a crucial border crossing between Gaza and Egypt, saying it would only open after “necessary preparations”.

COGAT, the Israeli defence body that oversees aid to the occupied Palestinian territories, on Thursday said the Rafah crossing would only open once Israel and Egypt had completed preparations.

“It should be emphasised that humanitarian aid will not pass through the Rafah Crossing. This was never agreed upon at any stage,” COGAT said in a statement, adding that aid was delivered through other crossings.

The Rafah crossing, the only border crossing outside of Israel, has remained mostly closed since the October 7 attack.

As part of a recent ceasefire agreement, there were plans to reopen crossings using the same protocol that was in effect during a temporary ceasefire earlier this year. At that time, the crossings were briefly opened to facilitate medical evacuations.

The United Nations humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, earlier called for the immediate opening of more crossings.

“We depend on all crossings to deliver our aid. We are advocating for all these crossings to remain open and to have fully unrestricted access,” a spokesperson emphasized.

Hayman, a graffiti artist from Haifa, tragically lost her life at the Nova music festival at the age of 27. Her remains were subsequently taken to Gaza.

Earlier on Thursday, the Israeli military said it had identified the remains of hostages, Inbar Hayman and Mohammad al-Atrash, whose bodies had been returned to Israel the previous night by Hamas.

In a significant development, Hamas transferred the remains of more Israeli hostages to the Red Cross, which then facilitated their return to Israel.

Hamas hands over more Israeli bodies to Red Cross in Gaza

Al-Atrash, a 39-year-old soldier of Bedouin descent, was killed in action on October 7. Like Hayman, his body was also taken to Gaza.

Al-Atrash was a 39-year-old soldier of Bedouin origin killed in combat on October 7, with his body also taken to Gaza.

Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, threatened to resume fighting if Hamas didn’t honour the ceasefire, saying he had ordered the military to prepare a “plan to crush” the group in the event of renewed combat.

Israel had earlier accused Hamas of breaching the agreement for failing to hand over the remains of 28 dead hostages.

Hamas said it had returned all the bodies it could access, and needed special recovery equipment to reach the rest.

“The Hamas terrorist organisation is required to uphold its commitments to the mediators and return [the hostages] as part of the implementation of the agreement. We will not compromise on this,” Katz said in a statement.