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A US-led effort to allow humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip and provide an exit from the bombarded territory for foreign nationals faltered on Monday, despite international warnings of the mounting human toll from the Israel-Hamas war.
Washington and regional powers are pushing Israel to allow aid into Gaza and Egypt to open the Rafah crossing between its territory and the south of the enclave for third-country passport holders.
But the parties remained gridlocked as of Monday afternoon, even as the UN and other agencies warned of a humanitarian crisis.
“Until now, unfortunately, the Israeli government hasn’t taken a stance that allows the opening of the border crossing from the Gaza side to allow the entry of aid or the exit of third-country citizens,” Sameh Shoukry, Egypt’s foreign minister, told a press conference. “We are fully prepared . . . We hope there will be a breakthrough . . . But unfortunately, until now there is nothing new.”
Hundreds of dual nationals waited by the locked border crossing for several hours on Monday but many had already left by the afternoon, losing hope that it would open. In a coffee shop across from the crossing, only tens of people remained.
“I have been coming here every day for three days and I wait and nothing happens,” said Rasmeya Ahmed, a dual Palestinian-Jordanian national. “The road is dangerous and there are no cars. We are being exposed to danger in order to leave. This is unjust. There has to be a truce.”
Diplomats said it was proving difficult to bridge gaps between the parties. Egypt says it will allow humanitarian aid into Gaza but insists it will only permit people with dual citizenship into its own territory. By contrast, some foreign officials say Israel is prepared to allow people to leave Gaza for Egypt, but is resisting the entry of humanitarian aid.
“The parties can’t reach a political agreement,” one diplomat said. “Egypt doesn’t want [Palestinian refugees] and Israel is pushing to get into Gaza [for a ground invasion following the deadly attacks by Hamas this month].”
Martin Griffiths, the UN’s humanitarian chief, told the Financial Times that the international body was calling for “safe corridors for aid to get in and safe corridors for people to go places where they can get aid”.
He added: “What Egypt is very, very clear about . . . is that they will not allow Palestinians from Gaza into Egypt, because they fear for a great influx, which they will then have to take responsibility for, for an indefinite period.”
Griffiths also called on Israel “to respect international law and protect civilians . . . that particularly includes the movement of people; movements of people cannot be impeded by bombing or any other military activity, by either side”.
Israel and Hamas denied reports that a temporary ceasefire had been agreed to allow aid into Gaza.
The office of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “There is currently no ceasefire for humanitarian aid in Gaza in return for the exit of foreigners.”
Despite reports that Rafah could open at 9am local time on Monday, diplomats and security officials said no deal had been reached.
Ahead of returning to Israel on Monday after a tour that took in Egypt and the Gulf states, US secretary of state Antony Blinken said the shared international priority was “to prevent the conflict from spreading, to safeguard innocent lives, and to get assistance to those in Gaza who need it”.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees said on Monday it was pushing “at the highest levels” for humanitarian access via Rafah. The UN says 600,000 people in Gaza have already fled to the south of the territory, in line with Israeli instructions to leave the enclave’s main city, and are “in increasingly dire conditions”.
But two ministers in Netanyahu’s government vehemently rejected the idea of opening Rafah, with energy minister Israel Katz saying he “bitterly opposes” such a step.
“Our commitment is to the families of the murdered and kidnapped hostages — not to the Hamas murderers and those who helped them,” Katz said.
In comments that highlight the emotions stirred by the conflict, he accused the UN of becoming a “propaganda arm of a terrorist Isis organisation”.
Israel has subjected Gaza to intense bombardment since Hamas militants launched a devastating assault on its territory on October 7. The Israeli military has said that attack killed more than 1,400 people and added on Monday that 199 — more than previously thought — had also been taken hostage.
Palestinian health officials said on Monday that Israel’s bombardment had killed 2,750 people, surpassing casualties recorded during the 50-day Israel-Gaza war of 2014.
Israel has cut off supplies of electricity, water, fuel and goods to Gaza and ordered almost half of its 2.3mn people to leave the north of the strip ahead of an expected ground invasion.
The World Health Organization said on Sunday that four hospitals in the north were “no longer functioning as a result of damage and targeting”, adding that 21 hospitals in Gaza had received orders from Israeli forces to evacuate.
“Forced evacuation of hospitals may amount to a violation of international humanitarian law,” it said.
The spiralling violence has sparked concerns that fighting between Israel and Hamas could spill over into a regional conflict.
Hizbollah, the Iran-backed militia in southern Lebanon, and Israeli forces have repeatedly exchanged fire across the border in recent days and again on Monday, while there has also been a surge of violence in the occupied West Bank.
Israel said on Monday it would begin to evacuate the residents of 28 towns within 2km of its border with Lebanon.
“[Hizbollah leader Hassan] Nasrallah wants to take our focus away from Gaza, and he does it in co-ordination with Iran,” said Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, chief spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces. “We’re focused on Gaza, [this] war is focused on Gaza.”
But he added the IDF had already “brought more force to the north” and warned Hizbollah to expect a “lethal attack” if it tested Israel.
Additional reporting by Neri Zilber and Samer Al-Atrush
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