Israel said on Wednesday it will open the Rafah crossing “exclusively for the exit of residents” from the Gaza Strip, as Hamas returned the remains of a deceased hostage.
The key border crossing will be open “in the coming days” and the “residents' exit will be facilitated through co-ordination with Egypt, following security approval by Israel”, according to a statement by Cogat, the Israeli military's arm that oversees aid flows.
It did not say whether there will be restrictions on who is allowed to leave, nor did it give a specific time for when the crossing will open.
Egypt denied on Wednesday that it was working with Israel to allow Gaza residents to exit the strip, saying that “if there was an agreement to open the border crossing, it would be two-way for residents to enter and exit, in line with US President Donald Trump's plan”.
It is not known what Egypt's denial means for Israel's planned opening of the crossing. The announcement came as Gazans reported some of the worst nights of attacks since the ceasefire began in October.
As part of the ceasefire agreement, Hamas handed over the body of a dead hostage to the Red Cross on Wednesday. Israel said the coffin was on the way to troops in the Gaza Strip to be sent for testing.
Earlier in the day, the Islamic Jihad group said it had located the remains in northern Gaza. Hamas has so far returned all 20 living hostages and 26 bodies in exchange for around 2,000 Palestinian detainees and convicted prisoners.
Two more deceased captives - an Israeli police officer and a Thai agricultural worker - are still in Gaza. If the remains handed over on Wednesday are identified as those of a hostage, only one captive will remain held in Gaza.
Residents living near the Israeli-designated “yellow line” in eastern Gaza say the Israeli army continues to bombard residential areas. “We heard fire, shooting, and the shooting hit my house,” said Haitham Krayem, 32, who lives about 200 metres from the line. “The shooting didn’t stop for hours.”
He and 30 of his family members fled under what he described as “chaotic, random gunfire” from quadcopter drones and tank shells. “When I turned on a lamp, the shooting immediately targeted the house,” he said. “We escaped with nothing.”
A statement issued by Hamas said Palestinian political factions expected Israel to meet its commitments under the ceasefire. They said mediators should pressure Israel to open the Rafah crossing in both directions.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has meanwhile appealed for countries to open their doors for the medical evacuation of tens of thousands of Gazans. “The need is really huge,” said Hani Isleem, who co-ordinates medical evacuations from Gaza for the charity. The number of people taken in by countries so far is “just a drop in the ocean”, he told AFP.
The World Health Organisation has said that more than 16,500 patients need treatment outside the enclave, where the health sector has been devastated by the war. But the true figure is believed to be much higher, Mr Isleem said. “Our estimate is that it is three to four times that number,” he said.
Despite a fragile ceasefire that came into effect on October 10, the pace of medical evacuations has not increased, according to the MSF official. At least 354 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the truce, with no increase in evacuations, said Mr Isleem.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qasem accused Israel of “escalating its violations” of the ceasefire agreement by attacking shelter centres and displacement camps located outside the yellow line.
Mr Krayem, the Gaza resident, said most families in his area fled overnight after one of the latest round of attacks, returning only briefly at dawn “to grab a few belongings before leaving again”.
“Each night, the Israeli tank fires towards homes and pushes the yellow concrete blocks further west. In the morning, they withdraw, and the line has moved again,” he told The National.
Political analyst Talal Abu Rukba said the Israeli army’s actions east of the yellow line are not random military manoeuvres but rather “a calculated preparation for a new phase: the re-engineering of Gaza’s geography and population distribution”.
“What is happening is part of an Israeli–American vision for demographic restructuring,” he told the National. Mr Abu Rukba said Israel aims to prevent Palestinians from repopulating eastern Gaza and to create depopulated zones that serve its security and military interests.
“These are not temporary measures,” he said. “Israel is establishing a new reality on the ground before entering the second phase of negotiations.”
He added that Israel is withholding progress on truce talks until all hostages and bodies are returned, using the interim period to reshape Gaza’s internal layout. “Every night of demolitions and every westward movement of the yellow line is part of the future map of Gaza,” he said.
With systematic demolitions, daily gunfire, night-time incursions and ceasefire violations, families living near the yellow line describe a reality closer to constant displacement than to stability. “What kind of ceasefire is this?” Mr Krayem asked, “When every night we run for our lives?”
