The Rafah crossing on the Egypt border is set to reopen under Trump’s cease-fire deal, pending formal approval by Netanyahu’s government, with preparations on the ground indicating the move could be made soon despite no date being set.
– Netanyahu will hold a security consultation in Israel on Sunday, during which he will share the concessions he agreed to with Trump, including the reopening of the Rafah crossing in both directions, with an additional Israeli “inspection site” on the Gazan side.
– IDF will operate its own inspection site on the Israeli-controlled Gazan side of the reopened crossing, in addition to Egyptian and international forces that will secure the crossing itself.
– The Israeli site will be equipped with devices to monitor people entering Gaza, and the IDF will be able to turn back people trying to enter the Strip from Egypt.
– Over the past weeks, cold winter rains have repeatedly lashed the sprawling tent cities, causing flooding, turning Gaza’s dirt roads into mud and causing buildings damaged in Israeli bombardment to collapse. UNICEF says at least six children have now died of weather-related causes, including a 4-year-old who died in a building collapse.
– At least three children have died of hypothermia, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry. High temperatures in December were in the 60s Fahrenheit (15-20 Celsius), but dipped into the mid-40s F (6-8 C) on some nights.
– Aid groups say not enough shelter materials are getting into Gaza during the truce.
– There is also concern that Israel’s recent suspension of more than three dozen international aid groups from operating in Gaza will make it even harder to get supplies like tents in. The Diaspora Affairs Ministry said the organizations did not comply with stringent new “security and transparency” requirements concerning their employees.
– UN Chief Antonio Guterres on Friday called for the ban “to be reversed, stressing that international non-governmental organizations are indispensable to life-saving humanitarian work and that the suspension risks undermining the fragile progress made during the ceasefire,” his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.
– “This announcement comes on top of earlier restrictions that have already delayed critical food, medical, hygiene and shelter supplies from entering Gaza. This recent action will further exacerbate the humanitarian crisis facing Palestinians,” Dujarric added.
– COGAT, the Defense Ministry body that oversees aid to Gaza, says it has let in hundreds of thousands of tents and tarpaulins and is waiting for international organizations to let in close to 100,000 pallets of “water-related items.”
– European forces will have a central role in managing the crossing during the next period.
– For the first time since the Israeli occupation of the Rafah crossing a year and a half ago, Palestinians will be allowed to enter the Gaza Strip, not only to leave it.
– Palestinians leaving Gaza will be subjected to screening by Israeli forces through a “calculated mechanism,” meaning they will not undergo a physical inspection by the Israeli occupation forces.
– Egypt rejected the Israeli announcement, denying any agreement to open the Rafah crossing only for exits and insisting it must operate in both directions.