On Saturday, October 18, 2025, the Palestinian embassy in Egypt made a significant announcement: the Rafah border crossing, Gaza’s main gateway to the outside world, would reopen on Monday, October 20, for people returning to Gaza. This news, reported by Reuters and echoed by several other outlets, was met with a mixture of hope and skepticism across the region. For months, the Rafah crossing had remained largely shuttered, a direct result of Israel’s seizure of the Gaza side in May 2024. The closure left thousands stranded and compounded an already dire humanitarian crisis in the enclave.
Yet, within minutes of the embassy’s statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office issued a swift rebuttal. According to the Associated Press, Netanyahu’s office declared that Rafah would not reopen “until further notice.” The reopening, the statement clarified, would depend entirely on Hamas fulfilling its obligations under a fragile ceasefire deal—specifically, the return of the bodies of deceased Israeli hostages. This back-and-forth underscored the deep mistrust and complex negotiations that continue to shape daily life and diplomacy in Gaza.
The Rafah crossing’s status is not merely a matter of logistics. For many Gazans, it represents a lifeline. Before the war, it was the only crossing not controlled by Israel, allowing for travel, medical evacuations, and the flow of goods. Its closure since May 2024 has been acutely felt, especially as the Israel-Hamas war, ignited by the October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, drags into its second year. That attack, carried out by Hamas-led militants, killed about 1,200 Israelis and resulted in 251 hostages being taken, according to Israeli tallies cited by CBC and other outlets.
The war’s toll on Gaza has been devastating. The Gaza Health Ministry, as reported by multiple sources including the Associated Press, placed the Palestinian death count at more than 68,000 by October 2025. The United Nations estimates that 92% of Gaza’s housing units have been destroyed, and the World Health Organization reports that only 13 of 36 hospitals in the enclave remain operational. Famine has been declared in Gaza City by international food security experts, with the UN verifying over 400 deaths from malnutrition-related causes—including more than 100 children. Aid deliveries, though scaled up since the ceasefire, still fall dramatically short of the need; the UN said only 339 trucks had been offloaded for distribution since the ceasefire began, far below the 600 trucks per day stipulated in the agreement.
As the ceasefire, brokered by the United States under President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan, entered another week, its fragility became ever more apparent. The plan called not only for a halt to hostilities but also for the exchange of hostages and prisoners. All 20 living Israeli hostages were released by Hamas in return for nearly 2,000 Palestinian detainees and convicted prisoners held in Israel, according to Reuters. However, the return of the bodies of deceased hostages has proved far more contentious. Under the terms of the deal, Hamas was to return the remains of 28 slain hostages by Monday, October 13. By Saturday, October 18, only 12 bodies had been handed over, including two coffins transferred to Israeli custody that day. One of the returned hostages was identified as Eliyahu Margalit, Israeli officials confirmed.
Hamas, for its part, says the process is hampered by the destruction in Gaza. The militant group claims that many of the bodies are buried in tunnels destroyed by Israeli strikes or remain under the rubble of bombed buildings. "Returning the hostages’ remains may take some time," Hamas was quoted by NBC News as saying. The group also accused Israel of violating the ceasefire, stating that 38 Palestinians had been killed since the truce began—a claim reported by both CBC and Reuters. On Friday night, October 17, Gaza’s Civil Defence said that 11 people from the same family were killed when an Israeli tank shell hit a bus they were in. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) responded that it had fired warning shots at a “suspicious vehicle” crossing a yellow demarcation line, alleging an imminent threat. The yellow line, as noted by the BBC, is not physically marked, but Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced that signs would soon be put up to indicate its location.
The dispute over the Rafah crossing’s reopening is not the only point of contention. The United States State Department, on Sunday, October 19, issued a statement warning of credible reports that Hamas was planning an imminent attack against Gaza residents—a move that would constitute a “direct and grave violation of the ceasefire agreement.” The statement, cited by Reuters and CBC, added, “Should Hamas proceed with this attack, measures will be taken to protect the people of Gaza and preserve the integrity of the ceasefire.” Hamas denied these accusations, instead alleging that Israeli authorities were forming and funding criminal gangs involved in murders and kidnappings within Gaza. The group insisted that its police forces were performing their duties by pursuing such gangs to hold them accountable. "The movement calls on the U.S. administration to stop repeating the occupation's misleading narrative," Hamas stated, as reported by Reuters.
Meanwhile, the humanitarian situation in Gaza remains dire. International aid organizations and UN agencies have repeatedly called for increased access and a full reopening of Rafah, arguing that only a sustained flow of aid and the restoration of normal crossings can prevent further catastrophe. According to the UN World Food Programme, around 560 metric tons of food have entered Gaza per day since the truce, still well below what is needed to address widespread hunger and malnutrition.
The ceasefire, while a welcome respite from the relentless bombardment and fighting, remains tenuous. Both sides continue to exchange accusations of violations. Israel claims that Hamas is dragging its feet in returning the bodies of hostages, while Hamas says Israeli attacks and restrictions are ongoing. The continued closure of Rafah, Hamas argued in a late Saturday statement, “constitutes a blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement and a repudiation of the commitments [Netanyahu] made to the mediators and guarantor parties.” The group also warned that keeping the crossing shut would prevent the entry of equipment needed to search for and recover more hostage bodies, further delaying their return.
Underlying all these immediate disputes are larger, unresolved questions: Who will control the Gaza side of Rafah once the war ends? How will Gaza be governed, and by whom? What role will an international stabilization force play, if any? And, perhaps most critically, what steps will be taken toward the creation of a Palestinian state? As Reuters notes, these are formidable obstacles to peace, and their answers will shape the future of Gaza and the broader Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
For now, Gaza waits—its people caught between conflicting announcements, fragile truces, and the grinding realities of war. The fate of the Rafah crossing, and of those hoping to cross it, remains uncertain, a stark reminder of the complexities and human costs of this enduring conflict.