Israel says it will reopen Gaza's border crossing with Egypt in both directions over the weekend. The move announced on Friday will allow Palestinians to enter and leave the territory after nearly two years of near-complete closure. The Israeli military body in charge of coordinating aid to Gaza said in a statement Friday that "limited movement of people only" would be allowed. The reopening of the Rafah crossing on Sunday will mark an important step forward for U.S. President Donald Trump's Gaza ceasefire plan. The crossing is Gaza's main gateway to the outside world. It has been largely closed since May 2024.
By MELANIE LIDMAN and SAM MEDNICK Associated Press
Israel says it will suspend several humanitarian organizations for failing to meet its new rules to vet international organizations working in Gaza. The Ministry of Diaspora Affairs said on Tuesday that the organizations that will be banned on Jan. 1 did not meet its new requirements for sharing staff, funding and operations information. It accused Doctors Without Borders, known as MSF by its French acronym, of failing to clarify the roles of some staff that Israel accused of cooperation with Hamas and other militant groups. MSF didn't immediately comment but other international organizations have said that Israel's rules are arbitrary and could endanger staff.
The world's leading authority on food crises says the spread of famine's been averted in the Gaza Strip. But they say the situation remains critical with the entire Palestinian territory facing starvation. The new report was issued on Friday by The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC. The report comes months after the IPC said that famine was occurring in Gaza City and was likely to spread across the territory. The report notes improvements in food security and nutrition following an October ceasefire and no famine has been detected. It warns the situation remains fragile. The IPC says all of Gaza will be classified an emergency with nearly 2,000 people facing catastrophic levels of hunger through April.
The Gaza Health Ministry says hundreds of premature babies are at risk of death from starvation across the war-battered Gaza Strip. Mothers and others blame Israel's blockade for the plight of their children. Doctors say that although some formula has been delivered, the situation is dire. Their desperation comes as the war in Gaza has been overshadowed by the Israel-Iran war. Doctors say formula is crucial because many mothers can't breastfeed because they are malnourished. One hospital recently received a supply of formula but more deliveries aren't guaranteed. The director of another hospital says it is out of stock of the fortified formula required for newborns.
Two weeks after the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel took effect, aid is flooding into the Gaza Strip. The supplies offer relief to a territory suffering from hunger, mass displacement and devastation following 15 months of war. But Palestinians and aid workers say it's still an uphill battle to ensure the assistance reaches everyone. And looming large is the possibility that fighting will resume if the ceasefire breaks down after the six-week first phase. Humanitarian groups say aid distribution is complicated by destroyed or damaged roads, Israeli inspections and the threat of unexploded bombs.
