The Israeli public broadcaster KAN reported that Tel Aviv decided to reopen the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza on Wednesday morning to allow the entry of humanitarian supplies into the besieged territory.
The move came after Hamas returned the bodies of four Israeli captives on Tuesday evening, with four additional bodies expected to be handed over in the coming hours, according to KAN.
US President Donald Trump announced the start of what he called “phase two” of the Gaza ceasefire agreement on Tuesday, following the release of 20 Israeli captives under the first stage of the deal brokered by Turkey, the United States, Qatar, and Egypt.
“All twenty hostages are back and feeling as good as can be expected,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.
“A big burden has been lifted, but the job is not done. The dead have not been returned, as promised! Phase Two begins right now!!!” he added.
Under the exchange deal, Hamas and the Israeli regime conducted a prisoner swap that saw hundreds of Palestinians released from Israeli detention facilities, including the notorious Ofer military prison and sites across the Negev Desert.
Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi convened a high-level summit in Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday, gathering world leaders to rally support for Washington’s Gaza ceasefire framework.
According to the US plan, phase two envisions the creation of a new administrative authority in Gaza, the deployment of a multinational security force, and the disarmament of Hamas — a condition the resistance movement has repeatedly rejected.
Since October 2023, relentless Israeli attacks have killed more than 67,000 Palestinians — most of them women and children — and rendered much of Gaza uninhabitable, as international outrage grows over the scale of destruction inflicted by the occupying regime.