Israel denies dozens of ill people exit from Gaza at Rafah border

• 6h ago (22:45 GMT)Thanks for joining usThis live page is now closed.Read our story about the message hidden in the name of Israel’s new security checkpoint at the Rafah crossing, here.You can read the UN chief’s renewed call for Israel to immediately allow humanitarian aid into Gaza here.And you can stay up to date with our latest coverage of the conflict here.Click here to share on social media
• 6h ago (22:31 GMT)Here’s what happened todayThis live page will be closing soon, but before we go, here are today’s top developments:
  • Palestinian women, who were among the few people let back into Gaza after ‍Israel’s delayed reopening of the Rafah crossing ‍under last year’s “ceasefire”, have described being blindfolded, handcuffed and interrogated by Israeli forces as they tried to get home.
  • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told US envoy Steve Witkoff during a meeting in Jerusalem that “the Palestinian Authority will not be involved in governing the Strip in any way”, according to the statement issued by Netanyahu’s office.
  • Amnesty International has called on Israel to abandon legislation that would expand the use of the death penalty, warning that the measures would violate international law and “further entrench Israel’s apartheid system” against Palestinians.
  • Saeed Nael Saeed al-Sheikh, a 24-year-old Palestinian man, has been shot dead, and three others have been injured, by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank city of Jericho, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
  • A Palestinian person has been shot dead by Israeli forces in the Tuffah neighbourhood of Gaza City, according to the Wafa news agency.
  • A Palestinian child, Muhammad Shehadeh Abu Hudaid, has succumbed to his injuries sustained several days ago in an Israeli bombing of the al-Mawasi area near the enclave’s southern city of Khan Youni, Wafa reported.
  A person is silhouetted while standing on the rubble in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, as a plane flies in the background, on February 3, 2026 [AFP]Click here to share on social media
• 6h ago (22:15 GMT)Bedouin families flee homes north of Jericho after settler attackThe Bedouin rights group al-Bidar is reporting that three Bedouin families fled the pastoral community of Tel al-Samadi, north of Jericho, due to repeated violence and harassment from Israeli settlers, including theft, arson and vandalism.The families left after Israeli settlers set their homes on fire. A Palestinian outlet posted footage on social media showing flames engulfing one of their encampments.This content is unavailable due to your cookie settings.To continue, please allow functional cookies from third-party platforms.AllowManage cookie preferencesTranslation: Settlers burn homes and displace three families in Tel al-Samadi.Click here to share on social media
• 7h ago (22:00 GMT)The next stage of the Gaza genocide has begunByGhada AgeelProfessor of political science.Jamal’s nine-year-old body is paralysed. He experiences constant, uncontrollable, violent spasms. He cannot sleep through them, nor can his mother. To keep the spasms under control, a drug called baclofen is required. It relaxes the muscles and stops the shaking. Suddenly halting the use of baclofen can have serious health consequences.Jamal’s mother, my cousin Shaima, wrote to me from the family’s tent in the al-Mawasi displacement camp in Gaza a week ago. It was her son’s seventh day without the medicine. The violent, neurological spasms that seize Jamal’s limbs leave him screaming out in pain.Baclofen is unavailable anywhere in Gaza: not in hospitals, not in clinics, not in Ministry of Health warehouses, and not even through the Red Cross. Shaima has searched all of them. It is one of the many medicines blocked by Israel, along with painkillers and antibiotics.Jamal now endures dozens of spasms each day. There is no alternative medication or substitute. There is no relief, only pain.Jamal’s story is not to be told if the likes of former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are to have their way.Read more here.A woman holding the hand of a young boy looks towards destroyed buildings at the Nuseirat camp for Palestinian refugees in central Gaza, on January 31, 2026 [AFP]Click here to share on social media
• 7h ago (21:45 GMT)Israeli army says it fired on Palestinians in occupied West Bank’s JerichoThe Israeli army had released a statement following reports that it killed a 24-year-old Palestinian man in Jericho, in the occupied West Bank.It said its forces opened fire on “a number of terrorists who hurled rocks”. “One terrorist was eliminated, and hits were identified on the additional terrorists,” the statement added.Israel routinely refers to Palestinians as “terrorists” despite its occupation of Palestinian territory being illegal under international law.Click here to share on social media
• 7h ago (21:30 GMT)WATCH: Why is evidence of  Israel’s war crimes in Gaza disappearing?Many of the images that have been seen from Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza have been seen for the last time.With Gaza under siege from the Israeli military and tech companies censoring and taking down material, the responsibility falls on the people of Gaza to document and archive their own evidence of war crimes and genocide.How will it survive?Watch the episode of The Take below:Play Video22:52Why is evidence of  Israel’s war crimes in Gaza disappearing?Click here to share on social media
• 7h ago (21:15 GMT)Hezbollah disarmament under question before Lebanon army chief’s visit to USLebanon’s army commander, Joseph Haykal, is set to visit the US this week, amid pressure to proceed with the disarmament of Hezbollah.Washington will seek progress on what it calls the second phase of a broader disarmament framework brokered in November 2024. While Hezbollah has so far refused to disarm, other issues also remain unresolved, including the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanese territory and their continued air strikes on southern Lebanon.Opposition MP Ibrahim Mneimneh told Al Jazeera that Lebanon has proven its seriousness in wanting to disarm Hezbollah, yet Israel’s actions have been an obstacle.“We need to be able to ensure the stability of the south so we can initiate the reconstruction process,” he said. “Without the reconstruction, we will not have any kind of proper stability in the south or in the region.”Analyst Joe Macaron told Al Jazeera that Lebanese residents in the south were “eager for the role of the state in the construction and services”, while it was clear to Hezbollah that its “plan to deter Israel has failed”.Click here to share on social media
• 8h ago (21:00 GMT)Israeli forces kill Palestinian man in occupied West Bank’s Jericho citySaeed Nael Saeed al-Sheikh, a 24-year-old Palestinian man, has been shot dead and three others have been injured by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank city of Jericho, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.Riyad Eid, the director of Jericho Governmental Hospital, told the Wafa news agency that al-Sheikh was shot in the abdomen, which led to a rupture in the liver.Wafa’s correspondent said that at least six Palestinians were injured during the Israeli raid in the city, including three by live ammunition, two as a result of being beaten, and a woman after being run over by a military vehicle during the raid on the city.Members of the Israeli army patrol near Jericho in the Israeli-occupied West Bank [File: Ammar Awad/Reuters]Click here to share on social media
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• 8h ago (20:45 GMT)Israeli forces shoot Gaza City resident dead, child succumbs to injuries in Khan YounisA Palestinian person has been shot dead by Israeli forces in the Tuffah neighbourhood of Gaza City, according to the Wafa news agency.Also this evening, a Palestinian child, Muhammad Shehadeh Abu Hudaid, succumbed to his injuries sustained several days ago in an Israeli bombing of the al-Mawasi area near the enclave’s southern city of Khan Youni, Wafa reported.Click here to share on social media
• 8h ago (20:30 GMT)If you’re just joining usHere are the latest developments:
  • Palestinian women among the few people let back into Gaza after ‍Israel’s delayed reopening of the Rafah crossing ‍under last year’s “ceasefire” have described being blindfolded, handcuffed and interrogated by Israeli forces as they tried to get home.
  • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told US envoy Steve Witkoff during a meeting in Jerusalem that “the Palestinian Authority will not be involved in governing the Strip in any way”, according to the statement issued by Netanyahu’s office.
  • Riyad Mansour, Palestinian envoy to UN, has addressed the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, saying “Gaza is not a piece of land that is hanging in the air for anyone to grab.”
  • UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for “rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief at scale”, including through the Rafah crossing, at the opening session of the UN’s Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.
  • Israeli authorities have issued demolition orders for 11 buildings in the town of Hizma, northeast of occupied Jerusalem, according to the Wafa news agency.
  Patients schedulled for medical evacuation and their companions are transferred to vehicles to be taken to the Rafah border crossing, in Khan Younis, Gaza, on February 03, 2026. [Saeed MMT Jaras/Anadolu]Click here to share on social media
• 8h ago (20:15 GMT)WATCH: Red Cross worker urges more aid access, recounts time in GazaPlay Video1:40Red Cross worker urges more aid access, recounts time in GazaClick here to share on social media
• 9h ago (20:00 GMT)Photos: Palestinian patients seek to apply for treatment abroad following reopening of Rafah crossingPalestinian families apply to update their files at Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis in order to seek medical treatment abroad after the Rafah crossing reopened [Abed Rahim Khatib/Anadolu][Abed Rahim Khatib/Anadolu][Abed Rahim Khatib/Anadolu]Click here to share on social media
• 9h ago (19:45 GMT)Palestinian envoy to UN says Gaza not ‘for anyone to grab’Riyad Mansour, Palestinian envoy to UN, has addressed the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, saying “Gaza is not a piece of land that is hanging in the air for anyone to grab.”“It belongs to the Palestinian people,” he continued.Mansour stressed that the US-brokered “ceasefire” must be lasting and insisted that “Israel should not continue to go and kill our people as they wish in the Gaza Strip and other parts of the occupied Palestinian territory”.“We want to see the beginning of the withdrawal of the Israeli forces to be out completely of the Gaza Strip,” he said. The second phase of the “ceasefire” deal that was signed in October includes the withdrawal of Israeli troops.Mansour added that Gaza and the occupied West Bank “constitute a single territorial unit” that must be unified under the Palestinian Authority.Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations Riyad Mansour [File: Eduardo Munoz/Reuters]Click here to share on social media
• 9h ago (19:30 GMT)Israeli forces arrest Palestinian man in Silwan, raid towns across West BankIsraeli forces have arrested a Palestinian man in the Silwan neighbourhood of occupied East Jerusalem, according to the Wafa news agency.Separately, several Palestinians suffered tear gas inhalation during an Israeli raid on the Arroub refugee camp, north of Hebron.Local sources told Wafa that Israeli forces stormed the camp, searched several homes and forced shops to close.The army also raided the town of Tuqu, southeast of Bethlehem, sparking clashes with Palestinian residents around the municipality. Israeli soldiers fired live ammunition, tear gas, and stun grenades, but no injuries were reported.Israeli security officers deploy after firing tear gas during clashes with Palestinian residents as Israeli authorities demolish shops in occupied East Jerusalem’s Silwan neighbourhood [File: Ahmad Gharabli/AFP]Click here to share on social media
• 9h ago (19:15 GMT)Palestinian Authority will not be part of Gaza governance ‘in any way’, Netanyahu tells WitkoffIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told US envoy Steve Witkoff during a meeting in Jerusalem that “the Palestinian Authority will not be involved in governing the Strip in any way”, according to the statement issued by Netanyahu’s office.He also said Hamas must be disarmed before Gaza’s reconstruction begins, the office said.United States Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff listens during a cabinet meeting at the White House, January 29, 2026, in Washington, DC, the US [File: Evan Vucci/AP]Click here to share on social media
• 10h ago (19:00 GMT)Israel issues 11 demolition orders against homes near JerusalemIsraeli authorities have issued demolition orders for 11 buildings in the town of Hizma, northeast of occupied Jerusalem, according to the Wafa news agency.The Jerusalem Governorate said Israeli forces stormed the town and gave Palestinian owners an evacuation order, according to the news outlet.The town is subjected to frequent incursions by Israeli forces, during which homes are raided, and some are converted into military outposts.Israeli authorities have significantly intensified eviction and demolition orders targeting Palestinian property in and around occupied East Jerusalem.Click here to share on social media
• 10h ago (18:45 GMT)Palestinian women describe ‘journey of horror’ crossing back into GazaPalestinian women among the few people let back into Gaza after ‍Israel’s delayed reopening of the Rafah crossing ‍under last year’s “ceasefire” have described being blindfolded, handcuffed and interrogated by Israeli forces as they tried to get home.Their journey from Egypt on Monday through the frontier post and across the “yellow line” zone controlled by Israel and an allied Palestinian militia group, involved lengthy delays and the confiscation of gifts, including toys, one of the women said.“It was a journey of horror, humiliation and oppression,” 56-year-old Huda Abu Abed told the Reuters news agency by phone from the tent her family is living in at Khan Younis in southern Gaza.Her account ⁠was supported by that of another woman Reuters interviewed.In response to a Reuters request for comment, Israel’s military denied its forces had acted ​inappropriately or mistreated Palestinians crossing into Gaza, without addressing the specific allegations made by the two women interviewed.Click here to share on social media
• 10h ago (18:30 GMT)Photos: Cold, wet weather worsens conditions of displaced Palestinians in central GazaDisplaced Palestinians living in the az-Zawayda area in the central Gaza Strip cope with cold and wet weather conditions in makeshift tents on February 3, 2026 [Moiz Salhi/Anadolu][Moiz Salhi/Anadolu][Moiz Salhi/Anadolu]Click here to share on social media
• 10h ago (18:15 GMT)Amnesty demands Israel drop death penalty bills ‘entrenching apartheid’Amnesty International has called on Israel to abandon legislation that would expand the use of the death penalty, warning that the measures would violate international law and “further entrench Israel’s apartheid system” against Palestinians.In a statement on Tuesday, the human rights group said two bills under discussion in the Knesset would mark a major reversal of Israel’s longstanding opposition to capital punishment and would disproportionately target Palestinians.The proposals, championed by government figures, including far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, would make the death penalty “another discriminatory tool in Israel’s system of apartheid”, Amnesty International said.“These amendments mean that the most extreme and irrevocable punishment is being reserved for, and weaponised against, Palestinians,” it said.“If adopted, these bills would distance Israel from the vast majority of states which have rejected the death penalty in law or in practice, while further entrenching its cruel system of apartheid against all Palestinians whose rights Israel controls.”Read more here.Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has been pushing for the expansion of Israel’s death penalty laws [File: Oren Ben Hakoon/Reuters]Click here to share on social media
• 11h ago (18:00 GMT)More on Guterres’s opening remarks at the UN committeeAs we’ve reported, the United Nations chief has delivered a speech at the opening session of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. Here’s more on what he said:
  • Gaza must remain an integral part of a Palestinian state.
  • Any sustainable solution must be consistent with international law, and the occupied Palestinian territories must be run by “a unified, legitimate, and internationally recognised Palestinian Government”.
  • The E1 settlement expansion project – which includes 3,401 additional housing units – is “profoundly alarming” and would deliver a “severe blow” to the two-state solution. Such actions are unlawful as deemed by the International Court of Justice.
  • The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) is part of the UN and, as such, is “inviolable and immune from any form of interference”. States must continue to politically and financially support its mandate.
  • The Israeli occupation “must end” and “the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people must be realised”.
  • The only viable route is a two-state solution. The international community must act in accordance “with clarity, unity and determination”.
  United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a news conference outlining his priorities for 2026 at the UN headquarters in New York City, the United States, January 29, 2026 [Eduardo Munoz/Reuters]Click here to share on social media
• 11h ago (17:45 GMT)Gaza returnees recount being blindfolded, searched, sexually harassed by Israeli forcesTwo Palestinian women who were among those allowed by Israeli forces to cross into Gaza through the Rafah crossing said they were “blindfolded, handcuffed, searched, interrogated and sexually harassed”, according to Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary, reporting from the southern city of Khan Younis.“They said this is not what they imagined the crossing into the enclave would be like. They thought it would be smooth, easy and they would make it on time to their families,” she reported.Click here to share on social media
• 11h ago (17:30 GMT)Guterres calls for scaled up aid into GazaUN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for “rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief at scale”, including through the Rafah crossing, at the opening session of the UN’s Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.“The continued suspension of international NGOs providing vital aid defies humanitarian principles, undermines fragile progress, and worsens the suffering of civilians,” Guterres said.“Shelter, food, education materials, and other basic needs must reach those in need.”The food crisis in Gaza continues as Israel allows only a limited amount of humanitarian aid to enter the enclave [File: Abed Rahim Khatib/Anadolu]Click here to share on social media
• 11h ago (17:15 GMT)Israel-Palestine head of Human Right Watch quits over ‘blocked’ reportByMohamed HassanThe Israel-Palestine director of Human Rights Watch (HRW) has resigned in protest, saying the organisation’s new chief blocked a report accusing Israel of committing “crimes against humanity” in its denial of Palestinian refugees’ right of return.Omar Shakir, who has worked for the rights group for more than 10 years, told Al Jazeera on Tuesday that the report “sought to connect the erasure of camps in Gaza with the emptying of camps in the West Bank, with the full assault led by the Israeli government against UNRWA, the [United Nations] aid agency for Palestinian refugees and underscoring how in the midst of this Nakba 2.0 that we’re seeing unfold beyond us, it’s critical that we learn the lessons from Nakba 1.0”.Read our story here.Omar Shakir worked for Human Rights Watch for more than 10 years [File: Muhammad Hamed/Reuters]Click here to share on social media
• 12h ago (17:00 GMT)Israeli settlers attack Masafer Yatta, Israeli forces arrest Palestinian manThe Palestinian Wafa news agency is reporting a settler attack in Masafer Yatta, in the occupied West Bank. The cluster of villages was featured in an Oscar-winning of a documentary, No Other Land, which depicts life in the beleaguered community.Palestinian activist Osama Makhameh told the news agency that the settlers stormed the Huwara area of ​​Masafer Yatta, injuring one child identified as Mahmoud Khalil Hamamdeh.Settlers also stormed the Khirbet al-Markaz area in Masafer Yatta and damaged fields, crops, and property.Israeli forces intervened and arrested an elderly man from Masafer Yatta, who was identified as Adel Hamamdeh.Click here to share on social media
• 12h ago (16:45 GMT)Netanyahu, US envoy meet in JerusalemThe Israeli prime minister is meeting US special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, according to Israeli media, as Washington presses ahead with its plan to push Israel to move forward with the “ceasefire” in Gaza.Steve Witkoff, US special envoy to the Middle East [File: Al Drago/Pool via EPA]Click here to share on social media
• 12h ago (16:30 GMT)UN peacekeepers report ‘unacceptable’ Israeli behaviour in southern LebanonThe United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) says two Israeli drones hovered aggressively above its peacekeepers during their routine patrol near Kfar Kila, before dropping a stun grenade 50 metres (164 feet) from the UN forces.“Fortunately, no one was hurt, and the patrol continued,” the UNIFIL statement said after this morning’s incident, which it said crossed the Blue Line in violation of Security Council resolution 1701.“Such use of armed drones is unacceptable. We reiterate to the [Israeli army] its obligation to respect the Blue Line, ensure the safety of peacekeepers, and cease attacks on or near them,” UNIFIL said.“Such [Israeli military] action is in violation of resolution 1701 and international law and interferes with peacekeepers’ Security Council-mandated tasks and puts efforts to rebuild stability along the Blue Line at risk,” the statement concluded.United Nations Spanish UNIFIL forces arrive to inspect chalets, after the Israeli army reportedly booby-trapped and blew them up at dawn, on the outskirts of the town of al-Khiam, southern Lebanon on January 31, 2026. [File: Rabih Daher/AFP]Click here to share on social media
• 12h ago (16:15 GMT)Israeli rights group says government aiming to annex East Jerusalem by 2029Israeli non-profit Ir Amim has said the Israeli government adopted a resolution with a mandate to complete land registration on 100 percent of land in the occupied East Jerusalem by the end of 2029.This process, through which the state “determines and finalizes land ownership rights and officially records them in the State’s land registry”, has become one of its primary tools “for seizing Palestinian land and expanding Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem”, it said on X.The resolution allocates new budgets, increases government personnel, and stipulates the involvement of the Custodian of Absentee Property under the authority of far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, “indicating a concerted effort to expand and expedite implementation of the process”.This “raises serious alarm and underscores the government’s intent to accelerate mass land confiscations in East Jerusalem, placing Palestinians at an unprecedented risk of dispossession and displacement”, Ir Amim added.Israeli security forces gather as excavators demolish a building in the Wadi Qaddum area near the Silwan neighbourhood of occupied East Jerusalem on December 22, 2025. [AFP]Click here to share on social media
• 13h ago (16:00 GMT)Ambiguity on reopening of Rafah crossing adds to trauma among Palestinians: ICRCInternational Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) spokesperson Pat Griffiths has told Al Jazeera that ambiguity on the reopening of the Rafah crossing is adding to the plight of Palestinians in Gaza who “have been living through incredible trauma”.He said the ICRC was not responsible for selecting patients who are allowed to leave through the Rafah crossing to seek medical treatment abroad.“We can only advocate for them publicly as protected people under international law,” Griffiths said. “Israel has an obligation as the occupying power to ensure that their needs are met.”The ICRC spokesman added that the Palestinians he has spoken to during his recent work in Gaza all expressed a wish for life to go back to normal, albeit knowing that “the road to recovery will be a long one”.Click here to share on social media
• 13h ago (15:45 GMT)‘Where is the Board of Peace?’ Wounded Gaza resident recounts ordeal for medical evacuationShadi Soboh, a 37-year-old Palestinian wounded during Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, says he has been waiting for a medical evacuation from the enclave for 10 months.“I lost bones, 12 centimetres [4.7 inches], and the main artery was cut. All the hospitals, Nasser Hospital, al-Shifa Hospital, and all doctors told me I need a bone transplant surgery abroad. I submitted an application and did a transfer to go abroad to do my operation,” he said.“This is my transfer paper. It was done 10 months ago. Where is the Board of Peace? Where is the world? Are they waiting for my leg to get amputated?”Click here to share on social media
• 13h ago (15:30 GMT)WATCH: WHO calls for rebuilding Gaza’s health systemNot only does Gaza’s border with Egypt need to fully open, but so do all other “pathways for patients”, Tarik Jasarevic, a spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO), has told Al Jazeera.“We know the most time-efficient and cost-efficient referral pathways are through to the West Bank and East Jerusalem, where there are medical facilities ready to receive patients,” he said from Geneva, Switzerland.“We have been calling for the opening of all crossings throughout the war,” he added.While thousands of patients in Gaza need security clearances from Israeli authorities to leave the enclave for treatment, countries around the world also need to step forward and accept wounded and ill Palestinians after more than two years of devastation, Jasarevic said.“So far, during the war, we evacuated more than 10,000 people, and the majority of these people went to Egypt and after that the United Arab Emirates, Turkiye and some European countries … What we really should be focused on now is to rebuild the health system inside Gaza so we don’t rely so much on evacuations.”Watch the interview below:Play Video7:53Rebuilding Gaza’s decimated health system ‘most efficient’ way to treat patients: WHOClick here to share on social media
• 13h ago (15:15 GMT)Palestinian prisoner dies a week after release from Israeli jailPalestinian prisoner Khaled al-Saifi, 67, has died as a result of medical negligence a week after his release from Israeli jail, according to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Affairs Commission and the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society.The monitors said in a statement that al-Saifi, a resident of the Dheisheh refugee camp in the occupied West Bank’s Bethlehem area, had been arrested twice since the start of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza on October 7, 2023. He spent at least four months in prison in Ramla, where his health deteriorated due to torture, abuse and starvation.The organisations said he was released and transferred to the Istishari Hospital in the occupied West Bank’s Ramallah city in critical condition and died on Monday. At least 21,000 Palestinians have been arrested in the West Bank since the start of the war.Click here to share on social media
• 14h ago (15:00 GMT)In Gaza, families waiting for loved ones after years of separationByHind KhoudaryReporting from Khan Younis, southern GazaThere is no explanation as to why crossings are being delayed at Rafah. Israel is using the new procedures to restrict and control everything related to the Rafah crossing.The process is taking an extremely long time. Yesterday only five patients were allowed to exit and today 16 others could cross.Only 12 Palestinians were allowed to come home to Gaza yesterday, and we do not know how many will be allowed to return today. Families are waiting for loved ones after years of separation.Thirty-eight other Palestinians were supposed to cross back into the Gaza Strip last night. So far nobody knows what’s happening with them – whether they are still being searched.Many restrictions are imposed on the crossing process, including the rule that people are not allowed to take any belongings with them.There are about 20,000 people waiting for urgent medical attention abroad in Gaza, and the daily number of people leaving the enclave is tiny compared to this number.Palestinians coming from the Rafah crossing arrive at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis on Monday [AFP)Click here to share on social media
• 14h ago (14:45 GMT)If you’re just joining usHere’s a recap of the most recent developments:
  • The World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed only five patients were evacuated via Rafah on Monday.
  • The “mistreatment, abuse, and deliberate extortion” suffered by Palestinians returning to Gaza through the Rafah crossing “constitutes fascist behaviour and organised terrorism” and amounts to “collective punishment”, said Hamas.
  • Palestinians have lined up on both sides of Gaza’s border with Egypt, eager to pass through the Rafah crossing after its long-awaited reopening by Israel.
  • Palestinian teenager, Ahmed Abdel-Al, 19, was shot dead by Israeli soldiers in southern Gaza.
  • Majed al-Ansari, the spokesperson for the Qatari Foreign Ministry, said Israel’s opening of the Rafah crossing is “a positive step” but completely insufficient.Play Video1:49Israel reopens Rafah crossing but continues bombing Palestinians
  Click here to share on social media
• 14h ago (14:30 GMT)Palestinian who returned to Gaza asked to provide intelligence to Israeli army Sabah al-Raqab and her five daughters were among 12 Palestinians who were allowed to return to Gaza by Israeli authorities as the Rafah border crossing with Egypt finally reopened.Al-Raqab told our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic that she set off from the Egyptian city of Arish at about 2:00am (00:00 GMT) on Monday and arrived at the Rafah crossing an hour later.They waited there until around 7:30am (05:30 GMT), when Egyptian authorities waved them through. They were then met by about 20 staff members from the EU mission and the Palestinian Authority, who questioned them and examined their belongings. They were given the green light to cross about 12 hours later.Once in Gaza, they were met by the Israeli army near what it calls the Morag Corridor, which cuts off the city of Rafah from the rest of Gaza. Two Israeli interrogators, fluent in Arabic, offered her a choice between leaving Gaza again or providing intelligence to the army.“We need you to be our eyes and ears,” they told her.Al-Raqab told Al Jazeera her family was let go when the European delegation intervened to allow the returnees to proceed towards the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis.Click here to share on social media
• 14h ago (14:15 GMT)‘Humiliating journey’: Tearful Palestinian talks about journey through Rafah crossingPalestinians long separated from their loved ones shed tears of joy after the limited reopening of the Rafah crossing with Egypt allowed a handful to finally return to the war-shattered territory over the past two days. But for some of those re-entering Gaza, the return home was bittersweet.“We were exhausted from this humiliating journey,” Rotana al-Riqib, a Palestinian in her 30s who had returned from Egypt through Rafah, told the AFP news agency.“The Israelis took us to the crossing – me, my mother and another woman from Khan Younis – and interrogated us,” she added. “They don’t let us bring in anything. They confiscated everything we had, even my children’s belongings. They only left us some clothes.”The crossing, which is Gaza’s only gateway to the outside world that does not lead to Israel, had been largely closed since Israeli forces seized control of it in May 2024 during the war with Hamas.“They don’t want a large number of people to return to Gaza,” al-Riqib said. “Rather, they want a large number to leave,” she added, referring to the Israeli authorities.A woman holding a child sits inside a bus as Palestinian patients and war-wounded people, accompanied by relatives, get ready to leave the Gaza Strip for their treatment abroad through the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt, a day after it was opened by Israel for a limited number of people, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip on February 3, 2026 [Bashar Taleb/AFP]Click here to share on social media
• 15h ago (14:00 GMT)Lebanon will never be dragged into new conflict, PM says after Hezbollah commentsLebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam made these remarks after Hezbollah warned any attack on Iran would be an attack on the group, adding that the Lebanese group’s decision to enter the war in Gaza in support of its ally Hamas had “very big” consequences for Lebanon.“We will never allow anyone to drag the country into another adventure,” Salam said during the World Governments Summit in Dubai, in response to a question about comments made by Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem last week.Qassem had responded to US threats of military action against Iran, saying: “We will choose at that time how to act … but we are not neutral.”More than a year of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, which largely ended with a November 2024 ceasefire, badly weakened the group.The government has begun implementing a plan to disarm it starting in the south, one of its main traditional strongholds.In January, Lebanon’s army said it had completed the first phase of its plan to disarm Hezbollah, covering the area south of the Litani River, about 30km (20 miles) from the Israeli border.Israel, which accuses Hezbollah of rearming, has repeatedly attacked Lebanon, violating the ceasefire.Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam calls on Arab countries to support the Lebanese army to bolster state control over the entire country [File: Mohamed Azakir/Reuters]Click here to share on social media
• 15h ago (13:45 GMT)Palestinians say Israel confiscating personal belongingsAs thousands of people try to get back to their homes and families in the besieged Gaza Strip, accounts are emerging of Israeli authorities stripping travellers of their possessions.“They didn’t let us cross with anything,” Rotana al-Regeb said as she returned at midnight to Khan Younis in the south.“They emptied everything before letting us through. We were only allowed to take the clothes on our backs and one bag per person.”Samira Said described the lengthy return process as “very difficult”.“They searched all of our belongings, especially at Israeli checkpoints. We were searched several times,” she said.Palestinians coming from the Rafah crossing from Egypt arrive at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis on Monday night [AFP]Click here to share on social media
• 15h ago (13:30 GMT)Israel delaying Gaza medical evacuations is ‘a crime’, says QatarMajed al-Ansari, spokesperson for the Qatari Foreign Ministry, says Israel’s opening of the Rafah crossing is “a positive step” but completely insufficient for the tremendous needs of Gaza’s besieged population.“The crossing must be fully opened to allow the entry of aid, and we will not accept this being used as a tool of pressure,” al-Ansari told a press briefing in the capital Doha.“Preventing the passage of thousands of medical cases is a crime, and this issue must be resolved,” he said.“We are sounding the alarm regarding the severity of the humanitarian situation in Gaza, where the necessary machinery, equipment, and aid have not entered.”Majed al-Ansari, spokesperson for Qatar’s Foreign Ministry [File: Al Jazeera]Click here to share on social media
• 15h ago (13:15 GMT)Egyptian FM talks Gaza with UAE counterpartForeign Minister Badr Abdelatty has discussed recent developments in Gaza and the wider region with United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.A statement from his ministry said the two diplomats met in Abu Dhabi, and both sides stressed that  the implementation of the second phase of President Trump’s Gaza plan must proceed.Badr Abdelatty and Sheikh Abdullah expressed support for the National Committee for Gaza Management, and speedy deployment of an international stabilisation force to prevent further bloodshed.Under the US proposal, efforts are also to be carried out on Gaza’s recovery and reconstruction, while the flow of humanitarian aid is supposed to surge into the war-devastated territory.Israel continues to severely restrict relief efforts, stymie the formation of the international military force, and prevent sick and wounded Palestinians from receiving urgently needed healthcare abroad.Click here to share on social media
• 16h ago (13:00 GMT)Palestinian teenager shot dead by Israeli soldiers in southern GazaEarlier, we reported a Palestinian man was killed by Israeli forces despite the US-brokered “ceasefire” with more details now emerging.Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis says Ahmed Abdel-Al, 19, was shot and killed by Israeli troops on Tuesday morning in an area away from where Israeli military has seized total control in southern Gaza.Abdel-Al was the latest of 529 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire since the October 10, 2025, start of the President Trump-backed peace process, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.They are among the 71,803 Palestinians killed since the start of the war in October 2023, it said.Israeli soldiers open fire in the Gaza Strip at an unnamed location [File: Israeli Army via AFP]Click here to share on social media
• 16h ago (12:45 GMT)Medical ‘help available’ nearby as Gaza patients prevented from travelGaza health ‌authorities are having to make a “horrible” choice by prioritising who among the sick and wounded in the devastated Palestinian territory will get an opportunity to leave for medical treatment.“We know that patients have died basically waiting for evacuation, and ‌that’s something which is horrible when you know just a few miles or kilometres outside ‍that border help is available,” said WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier.About 20,000 people need urgent treatment, including 4,500 children, Gaza authorities say. Israeli authorities continue to slow-walk the evacuation process, however.Click here to share on social media
• 16h ago (12:30 GMT)WATCH: How important is Gaza’s Rafah crossing reopening?The Rafah border crossing has finally reopened after months of closure as a result of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.Hopes were running high that the freedom of movement would ease the dire humanitarian crisis created by this devastating war. But Israel has set strict conditions on who would leave the Strip and who would enter.Now, only a small number of people are allowed to move in both directions. But much-needed humanitarian aid and construction materials are still barred from entering the Strip, which is in ruins.Will this reopening ease the suffering of Palestinians after two years of war by Israel?Play Video28:12How important is the reopening of Gaza’s Rafah crossing?Click here to share on social media
• 16h ago (12:15 GMT)Palestinians converge on both sides of Rafah crossingPalestinians are lining up on both sides of Gaza’s border with Egypt, eager to pass through the Rafah crossing after its long-awaited reopening by Israel.On the Egyptian side are Palestinians who underwent medical treatment in Egypt after leaving Gaza earlier during the war, according to Egypt’s state-run AlQahera News television.On the Gaza side, Palestinians in desperate need of healthcare unavailable in the devastated territory were brought in buses by the Palestine Red Crescent Society, hoping for permission from Israeli authorities to evacuate.Iman Rashwan waited for hours in the southern city of Khan Younis until her mother and sister were brought back from Egypt. She said she hopes others will be as lucky and see their loved ones again.“God willing, the crossing will open for everyone – for all the sick and for all the wounded,” said Rashwan. Everyone just wants things to “return to normal as they were before the war”, she added.Palestinians coming from the Rafah crossing, from Egypt, arrive at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis on Monday [Bashar Taleb/AFP]Click here to share on social media
• 17h ago (12:05 GMT)Gaza death toll rises as 3 killed in last 24 hoursIsraeli attacks also wounded 15 Palestinians in attacks over the past day, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.Since the “ceasefire” began in October, 529 people have been killed and 1,462 wounded, the ministry added.The death toll since Israel launched its genocidal war on Gaza on October 7, 2023 has increased to 71,803, with 171,570 wounded.Click here to share on social media
• 17h ago (12:00 GMT)Treatment of Palestinians crossing Rafah ‘collective punishment’: HamasThe “mistreatment, abuse, and deliberate extortion” suffered by Palestinians returning to Gaza through the Rafah crossing “constitutes fascist behaviour and organised terrorism” and amounts to “collective punishment”, says Hamas.“Painful field testimonies have revealed degrading practices including the abduction of women from among the travellers, blindfolding them, subjecting them to lengthy interrogations with irrelevant questions, threatening some with their children, and attempting to extort one of them into collaborating,” the Palestinian group said.“This confirms that what is happening is not ‘crossing procedures’ but rather systematic violations aimed at instilling fear and deterring people from returning to their homes.”Hamas urged international human rights organisations to document the alleged violations.The long-awaited reopening of the territory’s southern border crossing with Egypt was supposed to alleviate the punishing military siege of Gaza. Instead, Israeli authorities continue with tight security restrictions and a complex bureaucratic process that allows only a small number of people to travel in either direction.Abu Obeida, spokesman of the Qassam Brigades, in Gaza in 2019 [Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters]Click here to share on social media
• 17h ago (11:45 GMT)Rafah exemplifies Israel’s ‘absolute control’ over Palestinian livesByNour OdehFor people crossing through Rafah, the trips have been humiliating. There were strip searches and interrogations, but now there are even more extreme elements. We’re hearing about people being blindfolded, having their hands tied, and being interrogated.The semantics of it sound sterile, but when we talk about security screening, and a person needing urgent medical care, that person is basically being denied medical attention. And that’s really at the heart of it – the absolute control Israel has over everybody’s life.Meanwhile, the ability for other categories of people to cross is on hold, including students wishing to study abroad who, for the most part, studied during the Gaza genocide. They were trying to survive and finish their schooling at the same time.They looked for an internet signal during the war. They submitted their exams and projects despite being displaced from one place to another.And they made it, got accepted into universities and got scholarships. But they’re nowhere near the queue of people wanting to leave Gaza. More than 20,000 people need to leave urgently for medical care to save their lives.Palestinian officials tell me up to 30,000 Palestinians have requested to return to Gaza – people who left during the war. They’re not getting the clearance to come back in.Click here to share on social media
• 17h ago (11:30 GMT)Despite ‘ceasefire’, medicine shortages worsening in GazaByAli HarbZaher al-Wahidi, spokesperson for the Gaza Health Ministry, says thousands of people in Gaza are at risk of dying because of a lack of access to medication.“With medicine, the deficit has grown after the ceasefire. Although the number of injuries has gone down relatively, the lack of medicine has gotten worse, reaching 52 percent. This is a rate that we did not reach throughout the war,” al-Wahidi told Al Jazeera.The medicine deficit for chronic illnesses is at 62 percent, he added.“That means 62 percent of people with chronic conditions are not able to take their medication regularly, which leads to deterioration in health, which leads to death. Many people have died while waiting due to the lack of medical services,” al-Wahidi said.There are 350,000 patients with chronic illnesses in Gaza, according to the ministry.Play Video2:33Gaza’s Rafah crossing reopening came too late for this 3-year-oldClick here to share on social media
• 17h ago (11:15 GMT)WHO appeals for $1bn for world’s worst health crises including GazaThe World Health Organization has appealed for $1bn to address health crises this year across the world’s 36 most severe emergencies, including in Gaza, Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Haiti.“A quarter of a billion people are living through humanitarian crises that strip away the most basic protections: safety, shelter and access to healthcare,” WHO health emergencies chief Chikwe Ihekweazu told reporters in Geneva. “Health needs are surging … yet access to care is shrinking.”The WHO has repeatedly said Gaza’s healthcare system is “on the brink of collapse” with institutions hardly functioning, a blockade on medical supplies and equipment, and Israel-imposed delays in travel for critical cases threatening Palestinian lives.Click here to share on social media
• 18h ago (11:00 GMT)WHO confirms only 5 patients evacuated via Rafah on Monday‍A ‍World Health Organization official says ⁠the first five ​patients in Gaza were transferred ‍through Gaza’s Rafah crossing with Egypt on Monday.“On the second of February, WHO and partners supported the medical ​evacuation ‌of five patients and seven companions to Egypt via ‌the Rafah crossing,” WHO ⁠spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said.More than 18,000 patients are awaiting urgent evacuation ‌after Israel’s more than two-year war, he said.Click here to share on social media
• 18h ago (10:45 GMT)Gaza rescue workers ground vehicles amid lack of fuelA statement on Telegram by the civil defence agency says body recovery operations in the war-battered enclave have been suspended as rescue vehicles ran out of petrol.Hazard removal operations around the vast piles of destroyed infrastructure have also been stopped because of a lack of fuel needed to power heavy equipment, it said.Crews are unable to respond to weather-related distress calls. The agency called on the international community for immediate action to provide crucial fuel supplies needed for humanitarian services throughout the devastated Gaza Strip.Civil defence personnel use an excavator to search for the remains of victims in the rubble of a destroyed building in the Bureij refugee camp, central Gaza [File: Eyad Baba/AFP]Click here to share on social media
• 18h ago (10:30 GMT)‘No one should ever leave Gaza’ByTareq Abu AzzoumReporting from Khan Younis, southern GazaThose who managed to get through Rafah crossing back into Gaza have described a long, exhausting, and uncertain journey.People speak of long hours of waiting, repeated identity checks, and unclear instructions by Israeli authorities until the last moment they were allowed to pass into Gaza.Later, they encountered Israeli soldiers deployed to a nearby area. I’ve been told three Palestinian women were interrogated by soldiers, blindfolded and handcuffed, and taken to a military checkpoint.There, they were questioned about security issues that they had no idea about. People’s return to Gaza has been fraught with difficult challenges.However, those few who managed to return told others no one should ever leave Gaza because the return is very complicated, and life in Gaza is better than anywhere else in the world.Palestinians coming from the Rafah crossing arrive at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, on Monday night [Mahmoud Issa/Reuters]Click here to share on social media
• 18h ago (10:15 GMT)Israel ‘severely restricting’ humanitarian relief in Gaza: HamasHamas says Israel continues to “severely restrict” the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip, despite the start of the second phase of the US-brokered “ceasefire”.“With the Gaza Strip being affected by a new weather depression, the catastrophic conditions of displaced people in tents that offer no protection from the cold or rain are worsening,” Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem said in a statement.“Furthermore, the criminal [Israeli] occupation is preventing the entry of fuel and gas except in very limited quantities, thus violating the ceasefire agreement.”The reopening of the Rafah crossing for Palestinians to come and go has been touted as progress by Israel. Overlooked is the fact that Israel refuses to allow aid to enter from the border with Egypt.Events on the ground reveal a reality marked by strict security restrictions, complex procedures, and limited numbers of people being allowed to cross Rafah, falling far short of the scale of Gaza’s accumulated humanitarian needs, said Hamas.Click here to share on social media
• 19h ago (10:00 GMT)Thousands could die while awaiting medical evacuation: Health officialByAli HarbZaher al-Wahidi, spokesperson for the Gaza Health Ministry, says the process at the Rafah crossing is “too complex” and ineffective.Few Palestinians have been able to leave the enclave to receive medical care since the crossing opened on Monday.“This will not allow us to evacuate patients and provide medical services to them to give them a chance at life,” al-Wahidi told Al Jazeera.About 20,000 patients are in need of medical evacuation, including 440 critical cases that need immediate attention, he said.“At this rate, we would need years to evacuate all of these patients, by which time all of them could lose their lives while waiting for an opportunity to leave,” al-Wahidi said.He estimated 10 people die this way every day that the Rafah crossing is closed or operating at the current levels.Click here to share on social media
• 19h ago (09:45 GMT)Eight Palestinians left, 12 returned to Gaza on Monday: Interior ministryThe Gaza Interior Ministry says it has monitored operations at the Rafah crossing throughout Monday after its reopening.Eight people – patients and their companions – departed Gaza during the day, the ministry said in a brief statement on Telegram.Another 12 Palestinians, nine women and three children, arrived in the Strip late on Monday.“They were provided with immediate assistance and their arrival procedures were completed,” the ministry said.Critics of Israel’s prohibitive restrictions say the slow-moving process to get wounded and sick Palestinians treatment abroad is a “death sentence” for potentially hundreds of patients in Gaza.Click here to share on social media
• 19h ago (09:30 GMT)WHO explains role in helping patients to leave besieged GazaThe WHO has clarified that it’s not involved in the “selection or prioritisation” of patients approved to exit Gaza to Egypt for medical evacuation through the Rafah crossing.“WHO’s role is focused on ensuring the safe and orderly transfer of patients from Gaza to the Rafah crossing,” it said in a statement.A list of patients prioritised for medical evacuation has been shared by the Palestinian Authority (PA) with Israeli and Egyptian authorities for security clearance.Once clearance is granted, the PA shares the list of security-cleared patients with the WHO. It then contacts patients to “inform them of the medical evacuation logistics and to confirm any medical needs during transport”, the UN agency said.The WHO gathers patients at a designated meeting point in southern Gaza. Patients from northern Gaza are also transported to this location using WHO-arranged buses.Patients are then received at the Rafah crossing by PA officials who verify their identities along with the EU Border Assistance Mission.“Patients then cross to the Egyptian side to continue onward for medical care,” WHO said.Click here to share on social media
• 19h ago (09:20 GMT)Hamas urges global rallies against Israel’s ‘brutal aggression’ in GazaThe Palestinian group has called on “all people of conscience and freedom in our Arab and Islamic nations and the world to take immediate action” against “the continued aggression and genocide against our people in the Gaza Strip”.In a statement, Hamas accused Israel of “escalating raids and relentless barbaric shelling”, “demolishing and destroying the tents and homes of innocent people”, and “deliberately exacerbating their already dire humanitarian suffering”.Israel continues to violate the October agreement daily “in evasion of its obligations to the mediators, in contempt of international laws and norms, and in flagrant violation of all humanitarian values ​​and principles”.“Let the coming days – especially Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays of each week – be a continuous and escalating global movement that expresses the voice of the world’s conscience and its outcry against the occupation,” the Hamas statement said.Hamas fighters stand in formation in Nuseirat, central Gaza, in 2025 [Abdel Kareem Hana/AP]Click here to share on social media
• 19h ago (09:10 GMT)‘Save the patients of Gaza,’ doctor pleadsDr Muhammad Abu Salmiya, director of al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, says Israel must be forced to get rid of the time-wasting restrictions on patients seeking life-saving healthcare outside the besieged Strip.He noted that on Monday only five patients were permitted by Israeli authorities to pass through the Rafah border crossing. About 22,000 sick and wounded Palestinians in Gaza need urgent evacuation for treatment, Abu Salmiya said.“Today, 16 patients were discharged, meaning it will take about five years on average for all patients to be discharged. This is crisis management, not a solution to the crisis,” he said.“Allow us access to medicines, medical supplies and equipment, and we will be able to treat our patients. Denying patients discharge and preventing the entry of medicines is a death sentence for them. Save the patients of Gaza.”Play Video28:30Will Israel ever be held to account for its actions in Gaza?Click here to share on social media
• 20h ago (09:00 GMT)Rebuilding Gaza’s decimated health system ‘most efficient’ way to treat patients: WHONot only does Gaza’s border with Egypt need to fully open but so do all other “pathways for patients”, says Tarik Jasarevic, a spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO).“We know the most time-efficient and cost-efficient referral pathways are through to the West Bank and East Jerusalem, where there are medical facilities ready to receive patients,” Jasarevic told Al Jazeera.“We have been calling for the opening of all crossings throughout the war,” he added.While thousands of patients in Gaza need security clearances from Israeli authorities to leave the enclave for treatment, countries around the world also need to step forward and accept wounded and ill Palestinians after more than two years of devastation, Jasarevic said.“So far during the war, we evacuated more than 10,000 people, and the majority of these people went to Egypt and after that the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and some European countries. … What we really should be focused on now is to rebuild the health system inside Gaza so we don’t rely so much on evacuations.”Play Video0:45UN welcomes reopening of Gaza’s Rafah border with EgyptClick here to share on social media
• 20h ago (08:45 GMT)‘Unbearable price’: Gaza committee chief denounces Israeli killingsThe head of the Gaza technical committee set to govern the enclave has condemned the recent deadly attacks launched by Israel’s military in the war-ravaged Strip.“The loss of life in Gaza over the past few days is excruciating – our condolences to the families who are grieving. We call to immediately uphold the ceasefire,” said Ali Shaath in a social media post.Shaath will lead the 15-member National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), which is tasked with governing the Strip following a handover by Hamas.“Our people of Gaza have paid an unbearable price, and they deserve calm and safety. NCAG is committed with partners to prevent further incidents and protect civilians. The path forward must be one of restraint, responsibility, and respect for civilian life,” said Shaath.Since the October 2025 “ceasefire” came into effect, 526 people have been killed in Israeli attacks and 1,447 wounded in Gaza.Ali Shaath, head of the Palestinian technocratic committee for managing the Gaza Strip, arrives at a hotel in Cairo [Mohammed Abed/AFP]Click here to share on social media
• 20h ago (08:30 GMT)Rafah reopening offers hope for Palestinians to resume higher educationThe Rafah border’s partial reopening is bringing a glimmer of hope for students in Gaza who want to continue university studies and build their careers.Israeli forces destroyed campuses across the Strip and stalled education for an entire generation of young people.Reema Alyazouri’s plans for a career in artificial intelligence were well on track before Israel’s devastating war put her studies and life on hold. She received several offers to study at leading universities in the United Kingdom, none of which she could take up.“Yesterday was the turning point – everything became clear. I will travel to Egypt and start making the necessary arrangements there,” Alyazouri told Al Jazeera.“Once things are organised, I plan to go to the UK and continue my studies at the University of Bristol, which is my top priority right now.”Play Video3:28Who controls the Rafah crossing?Click here to share on social media
• 20h ago (08:15 GMT)Instead of ‘beautiful reunions’, Rafah crossing process has been a ‘nightmare’ByTareq Abu AzzoumReporting from Khan Younis, southern GazaThere is no list so far today stating who will be allowed to leave Gaza to receive urgent medical treatment abroad, as discussions are still ongoing between the World Health Organization and the Israeli military.On the ground, we can see different field preparations being made by the Palestine Red Crescent Society.Its hospital here is the main gathering point, and in the past few hours, we saw vehicles affiliated with the WHO make their way inside to start preparing patients to leave Gaza for medical care.The process has also been a nightmare for those returning to Gaza. I spoke to a Palestinian woman who reunited with her family after months of separation. She was blindfolded and interrogated by the Israeli military on her way back to Gaza.Others told me they were intercepted by Israeli-backed militias near Rafah city in the south. This is a main area where these gangs are actively operating under the cover of the Israeli military. These militias have asked returnees to provide them with information about armed factions in Gaza.So the Rafah crossing has been a humiliating process instead of a day marking a beautiful reunion with family.Buses line up to enter the Egyptian gate of the Rafah crossing [Mohamed Arafat/AP Photo]Click here to share on social media
• 21h ago (08:00 GMT)Israeli PM criticizes Gaza committee’s use of Palestinian Authority logoIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denounced the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza over its decision to update its logo to match the Palestinian Authority (PA) emblem.The logo “presented to Israel was entirely different from the one published this evening”, Netanyahu’s office said in a statement on Monday.“Israel will not accept the use of a Palestinian Authority symbol; the Palestinian Authority will have no part in the administration of Gaza,” it added.Netanyahu has vehemently objected to any role for the PA in Gaza, although he acknowledged last week that PA representatives will participate in the operational mechanism at the Rafah crossing.The 15-person committee was established as part of the US-brokered peace effort and consists of 11 Palestinian national figures. It is led by Ali Shaath, a former PA official.Click here to share on social media
• 21h ago (07:57 GMT)45 Palestinian patients, 90 companions head towards Rafah: Red CrescentAbout 45 Palestinian patients, along with 90 companions, are moving in vehicles towards the Rafah crossing to be transferred to Egypt for urgent medical care, the Palestine Red Crescent Society says.An estimated 22,000 wounded and sick people are also in dire need of treatment abroad, after Israel’s genocidal two-year war devastated Gaza’s healthcare system.Click here to share on social media
• 21h ago (07:45 GMT)WATCH: US envoy Witkoff heads to Israel amid regional tensionsUS Special Envoy Steve Witkoff is travelling to Israel to hold discussions on Gaza with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and military leaders.The consultations come as the US has increased its military presence in the region significantly, and President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan has been advancing despite Israel’s repeated violations of the October “ceasefire”.Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh reports:Play Video1:54US envoy Witkoff heads to Israel ahead of nuclear talks with Iran and amid regional tensionsClick here to share on social media
• 21h ago (07:30 GMT)Israeli soldiers wound 3, arrest 8 Palestinians in occupied West BankIsraeli forces have stormed the Balata camp near Nablus in the northern occupied West Bank.Local and security sources told the Wafa news agency that Israeli soldiers raided several homes, arresting four people and wounding three others during the assault.Wounded residents were hospitalised, it said, without elaborating on the extent of the injuries.Four other Palestinians were arrested in Kafr Qallil village, the al-Maajin area, and al-Ein refugee camp in Nablus.Click here to share on social media
• 21h ago (07:15 GMT)Palestinian Authority calls on UN to act on Israeli attacks, restrictionsRiyad Mansour, Palestine’s envoy to the United Nations, has sent letters to senior UN officials urging immediate international action to address the increasingly desperate humanitarian situation in Gaza.Mansour warned of “catastrophic” scenes in the Strip and Israel’s continued violations of the US-brokered “ceasefire” and international humanitarian law.Mansour called on the international community to fulfil its legal and moral obligations and to intervene immediately for a permanent ceasefire that will end “the massacres” perpetrated against the Palestinian people, the official Wafa news agency reported.He highlighted that 43 Palestinians, including three journalists, were killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza between January 14 and 28. At least 31 people were killed and dozens wounded in attacks on Saturday alone.In his letter, Mansour also underscored deadly attacks by the Israeli army and settlers in the occupied West Bank, and its policies of collective punishment, torture, detention, and confiscation of Palestinian land.Relatives carry the body of a Palestinian killed by Israeli forces in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza [Mohammed Nassar/Anadolu]Click here to share on social media
• 22h ago (07:00 GMT)Planned Gaza patient evacuations through Rafah will not ‘cut it’: DoctorMosab Nasser, head of Fajr Global, an NGO working on healthcare, says the planned number of evacuations of patients from Gaza through the Rafah crossing will be far from enough, adding that about 20,000 people with critical injuries and illnesses need urgent healthcare abroad.People with blast injuries, cancer patients, those with chronic disease, and many others could not be properly treated over the last two years because of Gaza’s decimated medical system, he said.“All of them were waiting for this moment to be evacuated for treatment because the local healthcare infrastructure in Gaza is completely destroyed,” Nasser said, adding that evacuating dozens or even hundreds of patients will not “cut it” because of the huge number of patients waiting.Many Palestinians with severe war wounds don’t have time to wait for evacuation and healthcare, Nasser said. Meanwhile, cancer patients “are literally dying on a daily basis” in Gaza without proper treatment, he added.Click here to share on social media
• 22h ago (06:45 GMT)Identification centre set up for returned Palestinian bodiesThe facility has been established at the al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City for the bodies of Palestinians returned by Israel.“This is to verify their identities in preparation for completing the legal procedures and burying them with dignity,” a Health Ministry statement said.Israel returned the bodies of 15 Palestinians through the International Committee of the Red Cross in exchange for the final Israeli captive, whose remains were recovered by Israeli forces last week.Click here to share on social media
• 22h ago (06:29 GMT)Israeli forces kill Palestinian in Khan Younis as death toll risesA Palestinian has been killed by Israeli soldiers south of Khan Younis, medical sources at Nasser Hospital tell Al Jazeera.The Israeli army withdrew behind a demarcation line referred to as the “yellow line” under the first phase of the US-brokered Gaza “ceasefire” that came into effect in October.Israel’s military routinely violates the line to carry out attacks and blow up buildings and homes, Gaza authorities say.Click here to share on social media
• 22h ago (06:23 GMT)Why medical evacuations are crucial for GazaMohammed Tahir, a trauma surgeon who volunteered in Gaza, has described the dire situation of its health sector.“The hospitals in Gaza have been destroyed. Its doctors, its nurses have been killed, imprisoned, forced to flee,” he told Al Jazeera.“The facilities are in squalor, really. There is a huge gap in terms of the surgical equipment required – the ICU facilities, the dialysis machines, the diagnostic devices there, the provision of medicines from antibiotics to painkillers to those required for managing chronic conditions.”Israeli officials and US President Donald Trump have repeatedly expressed plans for removing all Palestinians from Gaza.Tahir said while concerns about ethnic cleansing in Gaza are valid, medical evacuations are necessary to treat people who need specialised care and lessen the burden on the medical system in the territory.“What we want to do is to take these patients that need evacuation out of Gaza into other healthcare systems and create a method to repatriate them to Gaza,” he said.Tahir stressed that transferring people with complex injuries and conditions would free up medical resources for routine healthcare services in the war-battered territory.“That allows the people of Gaza to treat the normal, regular conditions,” he said. “People still walk in the streets. They fall over, they break their hip, they break their ankle – that needs treatment, and we need to empower them to manage these day-to-day conditions as well.”Play Video1:47Gaza patients in limbo amid Israel’s ‘pilot reopening’ of Rafah crossingClick here to share on social media
• 22h ago (06:18 GMT)Here are the latest developments
  • Israeli forces have killed a Palestinian south of Khan Younis as Gaza’s death toll continues to rise with attacks on civilians.
  • Only five patients have been able to leave the Strip as thousands of sick and wounded people desperately wait to receive life-saving medical care abroad.
  • Twelve Palestinians entered Gaza through the reopened Rafah crossing with Egypt after a 20-hour journey and strict Israeli restrictions.
  • The ban on Doctors Without Borders humanitarian operations in Gaza will result in a deeper catastrophe for Palestinians, its chief says, following Israel’s decision to terminate the medical charity’s crucial work.
  • The Gaza Health Ministry announced it had set up an identification premises at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City for the bodies of Palestinians returned by Israel.
  • Since the October 2025 “ceasefire” came into effect, 526 people have been killed in Israeli attacks with 1,447 wounded, the ministry says. The overall death toll since the war began is at least 71,800, with another 171,555 injured.
  Click here to share on social media
• 23h ago (06:06 GMT)Welcome to our live coverageHello and welcome to our live page of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza as the first Palestinians are allowed by Israel to travel through the Rafah crossing and deadly attacks continue.Follow us as we bring you the latest news, reactions, and analyses.

Reference Link:- https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2026/2/3/live-israel-kills-palestinian-as-few-allowed-to-exit-gaza-for-medical-care