\n<\/p>\n
Humanitarian groups say Israeli restrictions continue to hamper aid deliveries, a clear violation of truce deal.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n The Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said Doha is engaged with mediators to reopen the Rafah crossing into besieged Gaza and deliver aid.<\/p>\n Communications are ongoing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said in a news conference on Tuesday, though more details were not immediately available.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are working with mediator[s] to ensure we reach the second phase of Gaza ceasefire. We demanded that humanitarian aid is not used as a political blackmail,\u201d al-Ansari said.<\/p>\n Reopening Gaza\u2019s Rafah crossing with Egypt was a condition of the first phase of the ceasefire that went into effect on October 10. But it has remained closed as humanitarian groups say Israeli restrictions continue to hamper aid deliveries, a clear violation of the agreement.<\/p>\n The crossing had long been Gaza\u2019s only connection to the outside world until the Israeli military occupied the Palestinian side in May 2024.<\/p>\n The latest rumour of a potential reopening came on January 1, when Israel\u2019s broadcaster Kan reported that Israeli authorities were preparing to reopen the crossing in \u201cboth directions\u201d following pressure from United States President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n A two-way opening would mark a shift from an earlier Israeli policy that stated the crossing would only open \u201cexclusively for the exit of residents from the Gaza Strip to Egypt\u201d. The policy drew condemnation from regional governments, including Egypt and Qatar, with officials warning against the ethnic cleansing of Gaza.<\/p>\n Although many Palestinians expressed relief at the thought of the Rafah crossing reopening for medical treatment and education, others fear it will indeed be used to ferry Palestinians permanently out of Gaza under the guise of fulfilling the ceasefire agreement.<\/p>\n Tasnim Jaras, a student in Gaza City, told Al Jazeera that it was her \u201cdream that the crossing opens so we can continue our education\u201d.<\/p>\n Moaeen al-Jarousha, who was wounded in the war, said he needed to leave Gaza to receive medical treatment abroad. \u201cI need immediate medical intervention. I live in very difficult conditions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Al Jazeera\u2019s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Gaza City, said many families see Rafah as \u201can opportunity to reunite with family members who have been separated for too long\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cBut hope here is never simple,\u201d he added. \u201cPeople here have heard about these announcements numerous times, and many recall how quickly it shut again.\u201d<\/p>\n And although Palestinians hope that Rafah will allow for movement both in and out of Gaza, \u201cwe know the Israeli military is pushing for Rafah to be just a one-way exit\u201d, Mahmoud said.<\/p>\n Israel has meanwhile kept up its bombardment of Gaza in violation of the ceasefire. On Monday, Israeli forces bombed a tent where displaced Palestinians were sheltering, killing a five-year-old girl and her uncle, officials said. Four others, including children, were wounded.<\/p>\n The killings brought the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces since the truce came into effect in October to at least 422, according to Gaza health authorities.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Humanitarian groups say Israeli restrictions continue to hamper aid deliveries, a clear violation of truce deal. The Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said Doha is engaged with mediators to reopen the Rafah crossing into besieged Gaza and deliver aid. Communications are ongoing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said in a news conference on Tuesday, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":827,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle-east-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7688"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7688\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Hope and trepidation over potential reopening<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"