Rafah border crossing to stay closed ‘until further notice’, says Israel | Gaza

Israel said the Rafah border gate between Gaza and Egypt would remain closed “until further notice” after the Palestinian embassy in Cairo said the region’s only gate to the outside world would reopen on Monday.

In the statement made by Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, it was stated that the reopening of Rafah will depend on how Hamas fulfills its ceasefire role of returning the remains of 28 dead hostages. Israel’s foreign ministry had previously said the pass would likely reopen on Sunday.

The Israeli army said in a statement late on Saturday that the bodies of two hostages held in Gaza as part of a ceasefire agreement were handed over to the Red Cross, meaning the remains of 12 hostages were handed over.

The delivery of remains is among the key points in the ceasefire process, which means the end of the two-year war, along with the delivery of aid to Gaza and the future of the devastated region.

The Rafah crossing was the only crossing that was not under Israeli control before the war. It has been closed since May 2024, when Israel took control of the Gaza side. Full reopening of the border crossing will make it easier for Palestinians to receive medical treatment, travel or visit family in Egypt.

Israel returns the bodies of Palestinians anonymously, only with numbers. Gaza’s Ministry of Health is posting photos of the families online, hoping they will come forward.

Iman Sakani, whose son was lost in the war, said, “We want our captives just as they took captives. Bring me my son, bring back all our children.” Nasser was among dozens of worried families waiting at his hospital. A woman knelt down and cried after identifying the body.

Israel returned the bodies of 15 Palestinians to Gaza on Saturday as part of a ceasefire agreement, bringing the total to 135. Meanwhile, the dead were being searched in the ruins of Gaza. The newly recovered bodies brought the number of Palestinians to more than 68,000, according to the health ministry. Thousands of people are still missing, according to the Red Cross.

Hamas-led militants killed approximately 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and kidnapped 251 people in the attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which sparked the war.

Donald Trump has warned Hamas that Israel will green light the resumption of war if the militant group does not return the remains of all dead hostages.

Hamas said it was committed to the ceasefire agreement but that the recovery of remains was hampered by destruction and the presence of unexploded ordnance. The group told mediators that some of the remains were in areas controlled by Israeli troops.

In response, Hamas called on mediators to increase the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza’s 2 million population. Border gate closures and Israeli restrictions on aid groups continue.