Israel to keep border crossing closed as it trades accusations of ceasefire violation with Hamas

The Rafah borderline crossing betwixt Gaza and Egypt volition stay closed until further notice, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said connected Saturday, adding its reopening volition beryllium connected Hamas handing implicit the bodies of deceased hostages arsenic the 2 sides continued to commercialized blasted implicit ceasefire violations.

Netanyahu's connection came soon aft the Palestinian embassy successful Egypt announced that the Rafah crossing, the main gateway for Gazans to permission and participate the enclave, would reopen connected Monday for introduction into Gaza.

Netanyahu's authorities and Hamas person been trading blasted implicit violations of the U.S.-mediated ceasefire for days. Late connected Saturday successful Washington, the State Department said it had received "credible reports indicating an imminent ceasefire usurpation by Hamas against the radical of Gaza."

The State Department said the planned onslaught against Palestinian civilians would beryllium a "direct and sedate usurpation of the ceasefire agreement."

"Should Hamas proceed with this attack, measures volition beryllium taken to support the radical of Gaza and sphere the integrity of the ceasefire," the section said successful a statement, without providing further details.

Hamas denied connected Sunday accusations of an "imminent attack" oregon a "violation" of the ceasefire.

It accused Israeli authorities of forming, arming and backing "criminal gangs" that carried retired murders, kidnappings and aided looting.

The Palestinian militant radical said constabulary forces successful Gaza were performing their work by pursuing those gangs to clasp them accountable.

"The question calls connected the U.S. medication to halt repeating the occupation's misleading narrative," it added.

Trump had said helium would see allowing Israeli forces to resume warring successful Gaza if Hamas fails to uphold its extremity of the ceasefire woody that helium brokered.

The militant radical has launched a information crackdown successful municipality areas vacated by Israeli forces, demonstrating its powerfulness done nationalist executions and clashes with section equipped clans.

Hamas, successful a connection precocious connected Saturday, said Netanyahu's determination "constitutes a blatant usurpation of the ceasefire statement and a repudiation of the commitments helium made to the mediators and guarantor parties."

It besides said the continued closure of the Rafah crossing would forestall the introduction of instrumentality needed to hunt for and find much hostage bodies nether the rubble, and would frankincense hold the betterment and handover of the remains.

Israel said it received 2 much bodies precocious connected Saturday, meaning 12 retired of 28 bodies person been handed implicit nether a U.S.-brokered ceasefire and hostage woody agreed betwixt Israel and Hamas past week.

The warfare has caused a humanitarian catastrophe successful Gaza, with astir each inhabitants driven from their homes, a planetary hunger show confirming famine and wellness authorities overwhelmed.

The quality implicit the instrumentality of bodies, and shipments of life-saving humanitarian aid, underlines the fragility of the ceasefire and inactive has the imaginable to upset the woody on with different large issues that are included successful U.S. President Donald Trump's 20-point program to extremity the war.

As portion of the deal, Hamas released each 20 surviving Israeli hostages it had been holding for 2 years, successful instrumentality for astir 2,000 Palestinian detainees and convicted prisoners jailed successful Israel.

But Israel says that Hamas has been excessively dilatory to manus implicit the bodies of deceased hostages it inactive holds. The militant radical says that locating immoderate of the bodies amid the immense demolition successful Gaza volition instrumentality time.

The woody requires Israel to instrumentality 360 bodies of Palestinian militants for the deceased Israeli hostages and truthful acold it has handed implicit 15 bodies successful instrumentality for each Israeli assemblage it has received.

Rafah has mostly been unopen since May 2024. The ceasefire woody besides includes the ramping up of assistance into the enclave, wherever hundreds of thousands of radical were determined successful August to beryllium affected by famine, according to the IPC planetary hunger monitor.

After cutting disconnected each supplies for 11 weeks successful March, Israel accrued assistance into Gaza successful July, scaling it up further since the ceasefire.

Around 560 metric tons of nutrient had entered Gaza per time connected mean since the U.S.-brokered truce, but this was inactive good beneath the standard of need, according to the U.N. World Food Programme.

Formidable obstacles to Trump's program to extremity the warfare inactive remain. Key questions of the Hamas disarming, the governance of Gaza, the make-up of an planetary "stabilization force", and moves towards the instauration of a Palestinian authorities person yet to beryllium resolved.