Gaza: Hamas said Saturday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to keep the Rafah border crossing closed constitutes a 'blatant' violation of a ceasefire agreement and a 'repudiation' of commitments made to mediators. Netanyahu's office announced earlier that the crossing would remain closed 'until further notice,' in violation of a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip.

According to Anadolu Agency, the Rafah crossing had been scheduled to reopen last Wednesday as part of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, which took effect on October 10. Since May 2024, the Israeli army has blocked the movement of Palestinians through the crossing, the territory's only window to the outside world that was not controlled by Tel Aviv before the start of the Israeli onslaught against Gaza in October 2023.

Hamas stated that Netanyahu's decision to prevent the reopening of the Rafah crossing constitutes a breach of the ceasefire agreement and a repudiation of commitments made to mediators and guarantor parties. The closure of Rafah is preventing the evacuation of the wounded and sick, restricting civilian movement, blocking entry of specialized equipment needed for searching for missing people, and obstructing forensic teams from identifying bodies.

The group reported that ongoing Israeli violations include more than 47 documented breaches resulting in 38 fatalities and 143 injuries. Hamas accused Netanyahu of inventing false pretexts to obstruct the agreement's implementation and evade obligations. It urged mediators and guarantor parties to pressure Israel to reopen the crossing and comply with all agreement terms.

Hamas released 20 living Israeli hostages and handed over the remains of 13 more captives in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners under the ceasefire agreement. The agreement, reached between Israel and Hamas last week, was based on a phased plan presented by US President Donald Trump, which included the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and envisaged the rebuilding of Gaza.

Since October 2023, the Israeli conflict has resulted in more than 68,100 deaths and 170,200 injuries, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.