Israel to reopen Gaza's Rafah crossing for humanitarian aid amid ceasefire

Rafah crossing reopens for aid

Israel will allow Gaza's Rafah crossing to reopen on Wednesday for humanitarian aid to enter from Egypt into the Palestinian territory, Israeli public broadcaster KAN said.

"Six hundred trucks of humanitarian aid will be dispatched (Wednesday) to the Gaza Strip by the UN, approved international organisations, the private sector and donor countries," KAN said on its website without citing sources.

The UN and aid organisations have urged the reopening of the major crossing as Gaza faces a devastating humanitarian crisis after two years of war in the territory, sparked by Hamas October 7, 2023 attack.

At the end of August, the United Nations declared famine in Gaza, though Israel rejected the claim.

The Israeli public broadcaster said the reopening of the southern Rafah crossing, decided by the "political echelon", follows Hamas handing over the remains of four more hostages late Tuesday under a ceasefire deal that took effect on Friday.

Under the agreement brokered by US President Donald Trump, Hamas was due to hand over all hostages, both living and dead, within 72 hours of the truce coming into effect on Friday.

While the Palestinian militants did release all 20 of the living hostages it held on time, by Tuesday evening it had handed over to Israel the remains of only eight of the 28 dead hostages held in the Gaza Strip.

Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir on Tuesday threatened to cut off aid supplies to Gaza if Hamas failed to return the remains of soldiers still held in the territory.

According to KAN, the decision to reopen Rafah to allow aid to pass through was also taken after Israel was informed of Hamas's intention to return four more bodies on Wednesday, a move not yet confirmed by the militant group.