Israel Partially Reopens Rafah Crossing Amid Gaza Humanitarian Crisis and West Bank Violence Surge

Rafah Crossing Partially Reopens Amid Humanitarian Crisis

The Israeli Coordinator of Government Activities in the Palestinian Territories (COGAT) announced in an official statement that "the Rafah crossing will be reopened for bidirectional traffic starting Wednesday (March 18), for limited individual movement only." The Rafah crossing is the sole land route for residents of the Gaza Strip to the outside world without passing through Israeli territory. The crossing had seen a partial and limited opening on February 2nd, before Israel closed it again on the 28th of the same month, coinciding with an operation conducted in cooperation with the United States against Iran.

Deteriorating Humanitarian Conditions in Gaza

Residents of the Strip are enduring extremely difficult humanitarian conditions, while Israeli airstrikes continue to claim more lives. The Gaza Ministry of Health announced on Sunday that 13 people were killed and 22 others injured in the past day, bringing the total death toll over the past week to 28. Palestinian media reports indicate that an entire family of three (father, child, and pregnant woman) was killed in an airstrike that targeted a home in the Nuseirat refugee camp. According to Ministry of Health statistics, 663 people have died in the Strip since the ceasefire in October, including 47 since the beginning of Ramadan.

Soaring Prices and Severe Shortages

The humanitarian crisis is exacerbated by a dramatic surge in prices and a severe shortage of basic food items. The Gaza Chamber of Commerce revealed that the prices of all goods have increased by 349% compared to pre-war levels, with significant rises recorded in the prices of tomatoes, sugar, and cooking oil.

Deadly Escalation in the West Bank

In a related development, the occupied West Bank witnessed a bloody day. Palestinians mourned a man, his wife, and their two young children, who were killed by Israeli army fire in the northern West Bank. The Palestinian Ministry of Health stated that the Turkish government hospital in Tubas received four martyrs from one family: a 37-year-old man, his 35-year-old wife, and their children aged 5 and 7, all of whom sustained gunshot wounds. In response, the Israeli army and police issued a joint statement claiming the incident occurred during a joint operation to arrest "individuals suspected of involvement in terrorist activities," and that a vehicle sped towards the forces, prompting them to open fire and kill "four Palestinians inside." The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the incident in the "strongest terms," describing it as a "massacre" and asserting that "these crimes are not isolated incidents but part of a comprehensive and systematic aggression aimed at exterminating and displacing the Palestinian people."

Rising Violence and Alarming Settlement Expansion

This escalation in the West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967, occurs amidst a worrying increase in acts of violence. According to AFP statistics, over 1045 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since the start of the war on Gaza. This comes as the Israeli government, one of the most right-wing in Israel's history, accelerates settlement expansion, having approved the construction of 54 new settlements in 2025, a figure described as a record by the Israeli organization "Peace Now."