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

The Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt will stay closed “until further notice”, Israel has said, after the Palestinian embassy in Cairo said the territory’s sole gateway to the outside world would reopen on Monday.

The statement by Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said reopening Rafah would depend on how Hamas fulfils its ceasefire role of returning the remains of all 28 dead hostages. Israel’s foreign ministry earlier said the crossing would probably reopen on Sunday.

The Israeli military said late on Saturday that the Red Cross had received the bodies of two hostages held in Gaza as part of a ceasefire deal, meaning the remains of 12 hostages have now been handed over.

The handover of remains is among key points – along with aid deliveries into Gaza and the devastated territory’s future – in the ceasefire process meant to end two years of war.

The Rafah crossing is the only one that was not controlled by Israel before the war. It has been closed since May 2024, when Israel took control of the Gaza side. A fully reopened crossing would make it easier for Palestinians to seek medical treatment, travel or visit family in Egypt.

Israel has been returning the bodies of Palestinians with no names, only numbers. Gaza’s health ministry has been posting photos of them online, hoping families would come forward.

“Just like they took their captives, we want our captives. Bring me my son, bring all our kids back,” said a tearful Iman Sakani, whose son went missing during the war. She was among dozens of anxious families waiting at Nasser hospital. One woman knelt, crying over a body after identifying it.

As part of the ceasefire agreement, Israel on Saturday returned 15 bodies of Palestinians to Gaza, bringing the total it has returned to 135. Meanwhile, Gaza’s ruins were being scoured for the dead. Newly recovered bodies brought the Palestinian toll above 68,000, according to the health ministry. Thousands of people are still missing, according to the Red Cross.

Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 people in the attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, that sparked the war.

Donald Trump has warned Hamas that he would greenlight a resumption of the war by Israel if the militant group failed to return the remains of all dead hostages.

Hamas has said it is committed to the ceasefire deal, but that the retrieval of remains is hampered by the devastation and the presence of unexploded ordnance. The group has told mediators that some remains are in areas controlled by Israeli troops.

Hamas, in turn, has urged mediators to increase the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza for its 2 million people. There are continued closures of crossings and Israeli restrictions on aid groups.