Rafah crossing likely to open on Sunday, Hamas reiterates commitment to truce

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Lebanon's health ministry said on Thursday that Israeli strikes in the south had killed one person and wounded seven, while the Israeli military said it had targeted Hezbollah and its allies.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, however, insisted Israel's strikes targeted "civilian facilities", condemning what he said was a breach of a ceasefire negotiated last year.

Hamas denounced Israel's attacks on Lebanon on Thursday, saying it was a "dangerous escalation and a flagrant violation of international law and UN Security Council resolutions".

The group urged Arab and international leaders to join them in condemning Israel's actions. 

Hamas reiterated its commitment to the ceasefire deal late on Thursday, adding that they are keen to hand over all the remaining bodies of captives, Reuters reported. 

Lebanon's health ministry said on Thursday that Israeli strikes in the south had wounded six people, while the Israeli military said it had targeted Hezbollah and its allies.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, however, insisted Israel's strikes targeted "civilian facilities", condemning what he said was a breach of a ceasefire negotiated last year.

"The repeated Israeli aggression comes as part of a systematic policy aimed at destroying productive infrastructure, hindering economic recovery, and undermining national stability under false security pretexts," Aoun said.

Israel has repeatedly bombed Lebanon despite a November ceasefire, which followed more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah that culminated in two months of open war.

The Israeli army on Thursday said it killed a Palestinian after claiming they threw an explosive device towards Israeli soldiers during a military raid on Qabatiya.

UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said the signs of torture found on the bodies of Palestinian detainees freed from Israeli jails this week were "extremely concerning".

"...As we’ve said many times, there will need to be accountability for all the violations of international law we’ve seen during this conflict," he said in a news conference. 

US President Donald Trump threatened on Thursday to "go in and kill" Hamas if it keeps killing people in Gaza, in an apparent reference to recent shootings of Israel-backed armed groups, following a ceasefire deal with Israel.

"If Hamas continues to kill people in Gaza, which was not the Deal, we will have no choice but to go in and kill them," Trump said on Truth Social.

Israeli forces on Thursday evening stormed towns in the occupied West Bank, including Kafr Qaddum and Beit Furik.

Footage shows Israeli military vehicles and soldiers in the towns, Al-Jazeera's Sanad fact-checking team reported. 

Since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023, there has been a significant uptick in Israeli raids and arrests in the West Bank.

The World Health Organization has warned that infectious diseases are "spiralling out of control" in the Gaza Strip, with only 13 of the Palestinian territory's 36 hospitals even partially functioning.

"Whether meningitis... diarrhoea, respiratory illnesses, we're talking about a mammoth amount of work," Hanan Balkhy, regional director for the United Nations' health body, told AFP in Cairo.

A ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas has raised hopes of life-saving aid and healthcare finally reaching Palestinians in Gaza after two years of war, but Balkhy warned the challenges are "unimaginable".

"We need more fuel to go into Gaza, we need more food, more medical equipment, medications, medics, doctors," she said in an interview on Wednesday, echoing demands by international leaders for Israel to allow in a massive increase of aid.

WHO data shows there are only eight health facilities, all of them partially functioning, in Gaza City - the territory's main urban hub.

The organisation says the hospitals still standing are suffering dire shortages of medical personnel, who have themselves faced famine and Israel's relentless offensive, which has claimed nearly 68,000 lives according to the territory's health ministry.

For Balkhy, when people talk about repairing Gaza's devastated hospitals, "the question is how many of them are available for rehabilitation versus (having to) rebuild all over again?"

"We're talking about billions of dollars, and we're talking about decades of work," she said, after the territory's healthcare was essentially "dismantled".

Gaza's Rafah crossing with Egypt will probably be reopened on Sunday, Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar was quoted as saying by Italian news agency ANSA on Thursday.

"We are making all the necessary preparations," Sa'ar was quoted as saying at a conference on the Mediterranean region, being held in Naples.

He did not specify whether the crossing would be opened for the passage of humanitarian aid, or for people.

The Palestinian Authority's prime minister met Thursday with UN and diplomatic officials to present a plan for Gaza's reconstruction, despite uncertainties over his government's role in the war-shattered territory's future.

"I would like to believe that 12 months from now, the Palestinian Authority will be fully operational in Gaza," Mohammad Mustafa said, days after a US-brokered ceasefire came into effect in Gaza.

Mustafa said the PA had crafted a five-year plan for Gaza that would unfold over three phases and require $65 billion for 18 different sectors such as housing, education, governance and more.

The plan builds on what was agreed at a summit of Arab countries in Cairo in March 2025, and Mustafa said that "police training programs initiated with Egypt and Jordan are already underway."

"Our vision is clear," he told an assembly of Palestinian ministers, UN heads of agency and diplomatic heads of mission from his office in Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

"Gaza shall be rebuilt as an open, connected and thriving part of the State of Palestine," Mustafa said.

Turkey has sent 81 disaster relief experts to Gaza Strip, some of whom will help with finding the remains of 19 Israeli captives still unaccounted for, a defence ministry source said Thursday.

"There is already a team of 81 AFAD staff there," the source said, referring to Turkey's disaster relief agency, indicating that "one team will be in charge of seeking and finding the bodies".

International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva on Thursday urged all parties to continue moving in the direction of a sustained lasting peace following a ceasefire in Gaza, saying it would benefit the entire region.

Georgieva, speaking during the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank in Washington, said she was relieved when the recent ceasefire was reached for the sake of all the people affected by the two-year war in the Palestinian enclave.

She said lowered tensions would be good news for the economies of Egypt and Jordan, where the IMF has programs, and Lebanon and Syria, which have asked for help and support from the global lender.

"It is important because everybody concerned encourages this direction of sustaining a lasting peace, and yes, it would benefit the region," she said.

"There will be a peace dividend for everybody."

The Gaza Water Authority has said that its teams are distributing water supplies through the enclave, but that there is a lack of equipment for supplying water. 

The authority called on the international community to accelerate the repair of water infrastructure in Khan Younis and other parts of the enclave.

Yemen's Houthis said on Thursday that their Chief of Staff Muhammad Abd Al-Karim al-Ghamari, one of the most senior military officials of the Iran-backed group, was killed "while fulfilling his duties".

Without directly blaming Israel for his killing, Houthis said that the conflict with Israel had not ended. Israel will "receive its deterrent punishment for the crimes it has committed".

The Houthis had fired missiles towards Israel in what they said were acts of solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza, most of which have been intercepted. Israel has responded with strikes on Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.

The Gaza Health Ministry says the bodies of 29 Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks have arrived at hospitals in the past 24 hours, including 22 recovered from the rubble, three who died of their wounds, and four killed in new strikes.

The ministry said this brings the overall death toll from Israel’s war on Gaza to 67,967, with 170,179 wounded since October 7, 2023.

Despite the ceasefire announced just days ago, at least 23 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since it took effect, the ministry added.

Israel has yet to authorise the entry of heavy machinery and recovery equipment urgently needed to clear Gaza’s vast destruction and recover thousands of bodies still trapped under the rubble, local officials say.

The equipment is essential not only for rebuilding but also for searching for missing Palestinians presumed buried beneath collapsed buildings.

Yet, despite repeated requests from humanitarian agencies, Israeli authorities have not given clearance for bulldozers, cranes, and other heavy machinery to enter the enclave.

Turkey has put a former head of its disaster management agency in charge of its aid to Gaza, a Foreign Ministry source said, a sign it intends to ramp up its role as a guarantor of the new ceasefire after sitting out earlier rounds of diplomacy.

President Tayyip Erdogan, a critic of Israel's war on Gaza, joined long-term mediators Qatar and Egypt this week in signing off on US President Donald Trump's plan to end the war, after largely steering clear of negotiations for two years.

The source said former head of Turkey's AFAD disaster management authority Mehmet Gulluoglu, also a former ambassador, had been appointed as coordinator for humanitarian aid to the Palestinians and travelled to the region on Wednesday.

"Turkey is mobilising all its resources to rapidly deliver aid to Gaza, establish temporary housing areas, and for Gaza's reconstruction," the source said.

Gulluoglu will conduct inspections to identify the necessary aid materials in Gaza and prioritise them, coordinate with UN agencies, ensure the unhindered delivery of aid from Turkey, consult with Egyptian and Jordanian officials on deliveries, work on evacuating the wounded and ramping up Turkey's medical support to Gaza, the source said.

Ankara has said it would take part in an international task force to monitor the implementation of the ceasefire accord, though details have yet to be finalised. The Turkish Defence Ministry has said its armed forces stand ready to take part in the task force in a military or civilian capacity as needed. 

Israel returned the bodies of 30 Palestinians to Gaza on Thursday, bringing the total number handed over to 120, Gaza's health ministry and the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis said.

Under a ceasefire deal brokered by US President Donald Trump, Israel was to turn over the bodies of 15 Palestinians for every deceased Israeli returned.

Late on Wednesday, Hamas handed over two more bodies to Israel and said it had returned all the remains of deceased captives that it could access.

Sirens were activated in Israel's Red Sea city of Eilat after the suspected hostile infiltration of an aircraft, the Israeli military said on Thursday, but later said it was a 'false identification'.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel was "determined" to secure the return of the remains of all hostages still held in Gaza, vowing that the "fight is not over yet".

"We are determined to secure the return of all hostages," Netanyahu said at a state ceremony at Jerusalem's Mount Herzl military cemetery, marking the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.

"The fight is not over yet, but one thing is clear - whoever lays a hand on us knows they will pay a very heavy price. We are determined to win a victory that will shape our surroundings for many years," he added, a day after Hamas said it had handed over all the captives it could access.

An Israeli group campaigning for the return of all captives held in Gaza on Thursday demanded that the government delay implementing the next stages of the truce if Hamas fails to return the remaining captives' bodies.

In a statement, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum urged the Israeli government to "immediately halt the implementation of any further stages of the agreement as long as Hamas continues to blatantly violate its obligations regarding the return of all hostages and the remains of the victims".

According to the framework outlined by US President Donald Trump, the next phases of the truce include, among other things, offering amnesty to Hamas leaders who decommission their weapons.

Two Palestinians have been killed by Israel, with one being killed by a bomb dropped from a quadcopter drone in the area of Bani Suhaila near Khan Younis, and another dying from wound sustained after Israeli soldiers opened fire near Gaza City's college of Science and Technology, according to Al Jazeera.

Israeli forces have detained four Palestinians in raids in the occupied West Bank, with a child and a young man being detained in the Al-Arroub refugee camp north of Hebron, and two brothers being detained from the village of Kafr Qaddum, east of Qalqilya, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa.

Two Palestinians have been wounded by an Israeli drone strike in the town of Bani Suhaila, east of Khan Younis, according to medics at the Nasser Medical Complex speaking with Al Jazeera.

Israel’s military aid agency COGAT said on Thursday that preparations are ongoing with Egypt to open the major Rafah border crossing with Gaza for the movement of people, with the date to be announced at a later stage.

Israel had earlier warned it could keep Rafah shut and reduce aid into the Palestinian enclave as Hamas, it said, was returning the bodies of dead hostages too slowly, underlining the risks to a ceasefire that halted two years of devastating war and saw all living hostages held by Hamas released.

COGAT, the arm of the Israeli military that oversees aid flows into the Gaza Strip, said humanitarian aid continued to enter the territory via the Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel, and at other crossings.

"It should be emphasised that humanitarian aid will not pass through the Rafah crossing. This was never agreed upon at any stage," COGAT added in a statement sent to Reuters.

Two sources had told Reuters on Wednesday that the Rafah crossing was expected to open for people on Thursday.