Trucks carrying aid which entered Gaza through the Karm Abu Salem crossing, drive past displacement tents at the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza. AFP
The officials, quoted by several Israeli media outlets, said the decision was taken in response to what they described as Hamas’s failure to hand over the bodies of Israeli captives, as required under the US-brokered ceasefire agreement signed on Monday at the Sharm El-Sheikh Peace Summit.
According to the same reports, Israel will scale back the number of aid trucks allowed to enter the strip through the Kerem Shalom and Rafah crossings, limiting supplies of food, fuel, and medicine that had begun arriving after the ceasefire went into effect.
Hamas, however, said that recovering the bodies of several dead hostages would take time, citing the widespread destruction across the strip.
Despite this explanation, Israeli officials framed the continued closure of Rafah as a punitive measure. “The conditions of the ceasefire are clear,” one unnamed security source told Israel’s Channel 13. “Until Hamas fulfills its obligations, the easing of restrictions will not proceed.”
The move follows Israeli violations of the ceasefire, which was hailed just days ago by US President Donald Trump as a “tremendous day for the world.”
At least six Palestinians were killed and several others wounded on Tuesday when Israeli drones opened fire on residents inspecting their homes in Gaza City’s Shuja’iyya neighborhood and the town of Khan Younis, according to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA.
The agency cited medical sources as saying that “the victims were civilians who had returned to check the ruins of their destroyed homes under the assumption that the truce guaranteed safety.”
The latest strike came less than 24 hours after Israeli forces fatally shot a Palestinian man identified as Khalid Barbakh in the al-Sikka area of Khan Younis, also in violation of the ceasefire. WAFA said Barbakh was killed instantly while examining damage to his house.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said dozens more have been wounded since the truce began.
The ceasefire agreement – signed on Monday at the Sharm El-Sheikh Peace Summit, which was co-chaired by Presidents Trump and Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi – was meant to mark a turning point after two years of war that left Gaza in ruins and killed more than 67,000 Palestinians.
The accord was based on Trump’s 20-point peace plan and included provisions for a phased Israeli withdrawal, the release of captives on both sides, and the unimpeded entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Earlier today, the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross called for all crossings into Gaza to be opened to allow desperately needed aid into the war-torn Palestinian territory.
"That's what humanitarians, including ICRC, have been calling for in the last hours is making sure that, because of the huge needs, all entry points can be open," Red Cross spokesman Christian Cardon told reporters in Geneva.
According to the UN's Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report dated 22 August 2025, aid is deeply needed in Gaza as famine (IPC Phase 5) has been confirmed in Gaza Governorate and was expected to spread to Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis by September’s end.
The report found that over 500,000 people face catastrophic hunger, with another 1.07 million in emergency conditions.
It projected that 132,000 children under five could suffer acute malnutrition by June 2026, including 41,000 severe cases, and that 55,500 pregnant and breastfeeding women need urgent nutrition support.
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