DaysofPal – In violation of the ceasefire agreement, the Israeli occupation army is still preventing the reopening of the Rafah border crossing and the entry of much-needed humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.
According to Israeli media, government officials have made the reopening of Rafah and the flow of relief supplies conditional on the return of the remains of Israeli soldiers held in Gaza. One senior official told Hebrew outlets that Israel would not proceed with the second phase of the agreement until “all the bodies of the captives are handed over.”
The same source said the Rafah crossing will remain closed until “Hamas intensifies its efforts to retrieve the bodies.”
However, the al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, rejected the accusation, saying it had already handed over all the bodies in its possession and that further recovery efforts require heavy equipment and machinery to lift rubble from areas destroyed during Israel’s devastating war on Gaza.
Under the terms of the ceasefire deal, Israel was required to allow 600 trucks of aid and supplies to enter Gaza daily, including humanitarian, medical, and commercial goods. These were intended to provide urgent relief for 2.3 million Palestinians enduring extreme shortages of food, medicine, and shelter after two years of war and siege.
Yet, local and international aid organizations said that Israel has not fulfilled any of its key obligations, instead placing new obstacles to block the entry of critical supplies.
Among the items being withheld are emergency shelters, medical equipment, rubble removal tools, and materials to repair essential infrastructure.
Israel also failed to reopen the Rafah land crossing on the scheduled date, Wednesday, despite this being a central provision of the ceasefire deal. The crossing, Gaza’s only link to the outside world through Egypt, has remained closed since Israel invaded and destroyed the area during its May 6, 2024, assault on Rafah.
Humanitarian sources said Israel is using the issue of soldiers’ bodies as a pretext to stall implementation of the agreement and to maintain control over Gaza’s crossings, including Kerem Shalom and the Kosovo military crossing, both of which are essential for the entry of aid and commercial goods.
While Israel briefly allowed the passage of several hundred private-sector commercial trucks last Sunday, the first day after the ceasefire, it permitted only 173 trucks carrying humanitarian aid, far below the agreed 600.
According to Dr. Ismail al-Thawabta, Director General of Gaza’s Government Media Office, Israel has completely halted aid deliveries since then, barring all trucks on Monday and Tuesday “for unconvincing reasons.”
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