Updates: Hamas-Israel ceasefire holds

Israel is set to partially reopen the Rafah crossing between the war-devastated Gaza Strip and Egypt today, following months of urging from humanitarian organisations, though access will be limited to the movement of people.

The Rafah crossing is a vital gateway for both civilians and aid, but has remained closed since Israeli forces seized control of it in May 2024 during the war with Hamas, aside from a brief and limited reopening in early 2025.

"The Rafah Crossing will open this coming Sunday (February 1st) in both directions, for limited movement of people only," COGAT, an Israeli defence ministry body overseeing civil affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories, said on Friday.

Entry and exit "will be permitted in coordination with Egypt, following prior security clearance of individuals by Israel, and under the supervision of the European Union mission", it added.

A source at the border told AFP that would be largely devoted to preparations and logistical arrangements.

The crossing is set to open on a trial basis to allow the passage of wounded individuals, ahead of a regular reopening scheduled for Monday, three sources at the crossing said.

However, no agreement has yet been reached on the number of Palestinians permitted to enter or exit, the sources added, noting that Egypt plans to admit "all Palestinians whom Israel authorises to leave" the territory.

Qatar condemned Israel for what it called repeated violations of a fragile US-brokered ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, after the Palestinian territory’s civil defence agency reported 32 people killed in Israeli strikes.

"The State of Qatar expresses its strong condemnation of the repeated Israeli violations of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip [...] in a dangerous escalation that will inflame the situation and undermine regional and international efforts aimed at consolidating the truce," the Qatari foreign ministry said.

Israeli air strikes killed 32 people including children in Gaza, according to the Palestinian territory’s civil defence agency, as the military said it had attacked in response to a Hamas ceasefire violation.

"The death toll since dawn today has risen to 32, most of them children and women," said the civil defence agency, a rescue force operating under the Hamas authority, updating an earlier toll of 28.

"Residential apartments, tents, shelters and a police station were targeted, resulting in this humanitarian catastrophe," agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said in the statement.

Israel carried out its heaviest airstrikes in Gaza in weeks on Saturday, killing 26 people according to local health authorities, in attacks on a Hamas-run police station and on apartments and tents in an area sheltering displaced Palestinians.

Another airstrike hit an apartment in Gaza City killing three children and two women, according to officials at Shifa hospital in the city. Seven more were killed in a strike at a tent encampment in Khan Younis further south.

Israeli air strikes killed 11 people in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, according to the territory's ministry of health, including people sheltering in a tent in the south.

Munir al-Barsh, the general director of the ministry, which operates under Hamas authority, told AFP that 11 people were killed and 20 more were wounded "as a result of strikes carried out by the occupation targeting civilians in a tent and an apartment".

Barsh said the wounded arrived at hospitals in Gaza City in the north and Khan Yunis in the south.

Israel "continues its serious violations of the ceasefire agreement amid a severe shortage of medical supplies, medicines and medical equipment", Barsh added.

Gaza´s Hamas-run government press office said Saturday that the strike on the tent in the south killed seven members of one displaced family, including a child and an elderly person.

The US State Department has approved more than $6.5 billion in potential military sales to Israel in three separate contracts, the Pentagon said on Friday.

The US State Department approved a potential sale of Joint Light Tactical Vehicle and related equipment for an estimated cost of $1.98 billion, and another sale of AH-64E Apache Helicopters for $3.8 billion, the Pentagon said in separate statements.

A third military contract was also awarded for $740 million.

The principal contractor for the first sale is AM General LLC, while Boeing and Lockheed Martin are the contractors for the sale of Apache helicopters.

Israel’s military denied having accepted the Palestinian health ministry’s death toll for the war in Gaza of 71,000 killed since October 2023, as was reported in Israeli media.

"The (Israeli military) clarifies that the details published do not reflect official [...] data", military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani posted on social media.

"Any publication or report on this matter will be released through official and orderly channels."

Israel’s left-leaning daily Haaretz had reported that the military "accepted the estimate of the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry that approximately 71,000 Palestinians were killed during the Israel-Gaza war.

Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres said it will not submit lists of staff demanded by Israel to maintain access to Gaza and the West Bank after failing to receive assurances over the safety of its teams.

The aid groups say sharing such staff information could pose a safety risk. Hundreds of aid workers have been killed or injured during the war in Gaza.

Israel's diaspora ministry manages the registration process. In a statement to Reuters, the ministry accused Hamas of having exerted pressure on MSF.

"However, despite repeated efforts, it became evident in recent days that we were unable to build engagement with Israeli authorities on the concrete assurances required," MSF said in a statement.

Israel will reopen the Rafah border crossing for people to travel between Gaza and Egypt, a government agency said, the first opening of effectively the sole route in or out of the Palestinian territory since May 2024.

The Israeli government agency that coordinates civilian policy in Gaza, Cogat, did not say how many of Gaza's more than two million people would be allowed to cross the border per day.

"The return of residents from Egypt to the Gaza Strip will be permitted, in coordination with Egypt, for residents who left Gaza during the course of the war only, and only after prior security clearance by Israel," COGAT said.