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Gaza patients in limbo amid Israel’s ‘pilot reopening’ of Rafah crossing

Gaza patients in limbo amid Israel’s ‘pilot reopening’ of Rafah crossing
By Umut Uras, Urooba Jamal and Federica Marsi
Published On 3 Feb 2026

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3 Feb 2026 - 22:45
 (22:45 GMT)

Thanks for joining us

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Read our story about the message hidden in the name of Israel’s new security checkpoint at the Rafah crossing, here.

You can read the UN chief’s renewed call for Israel to immediately allow humanitarian aid into Gaza here.

And you can stay up to date with our latest coverage of the conflict here.

3 Feb 2026 - 22:31
 (22:31 GMT)

Here’s what happened today

This live page will be closing soon, but before we go, here are today’s top developments:

  • Palestinian women, who were among the few people let back into Gaza after Israel’s delayed reopening of the Rafah crossing under last year’s “ceasefire”, have described being blindfolded, handcuffed and interrogated by Israeli forces as they tried to get home.
  • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told US envoy Steve Witkoff during a meeting in Jerusalem that “the Palestinian Authority will not be involved in governing the Strip in any way”, according to the statement issued by Netanyahu’s office.
  • Amnesty International has called on Israel to abandon legislation that would expand the use of the death penalty, warning that the measures would violate international law and “further entrench Israel’s apartheid system” against Palestinians.
  • Saeed Nael Saeed al-Sheikh, a 24-year-old Palestinian man, has been shot dead, and three others have been injured, by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank city of Jericho, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
  • A Palestinian person has been shot dead by Israeli forces in the Tuffah neighbourhood of Gaza City, according to the Wafa news agency.
  • A Palestinian child, Muhammad Shehadeh Abu Hudaid, has succumbed to his injuries sustained several days ago in an Israeli bombing of the al-Mawasi area near the enclave’s southern city of Khan Youni, Wafa reported.
A person is silhouetted while standing on the rubble in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, as a plane flies in the background, on February 3, 2026 [AFP]
3 Feb 2026 - 22:15
 (22:15 GMT)

Bedouin families flee homes north of Jericho after settler attack

The Bedouin rights group al-Bidar is reporting that three Bedouin families fled the pastoral community of Tel al-Samadi, north of Jericho, due to repeated violence and harassment from Israeli settlers, including theft, arson and vandalism.

The families left after Israeli settlers set their homes on fire. A Palestinian outlet posted footage on social media showing flames engulfing one of their encampments.

Translation: Settlers burn homes and displace three families in Tel al-Samadi.

3 Feb 2026 - 22:00
 (22:00 GMT)
Opinion

The next stage of the Gaza genocide has begun

By Ghada Ageel

Professor of political science.

Jamal’s nine-year-old body is paralysed. He experiences constant, uncontrollable, violent spasms. He cannot sleep through them, nor can his mother. To keep the spasms under control, a drug called baclofen is required. It relaxes the muscles and stops the shaking. Suddenly halting the use of baclofen can have serious health consequences.

Jamal’s mother, my cousin Shaima, wrote to me from the family’s tent in the al-Mawasi displacement camp in Gaza a week ago. It was her son’s seventh day without the medicine. The violent, neurological spasms that seize Jamal’s limbs leave him screaming out in pain.

Baclofen is unavailable anywhere in Gaza: not in hospitals, not in clinics, not in Ministry of Health warehouses, and not even through the Red Cross. Shaima has searched all of them. It is one of the many medicines blocked by Israel, along with painkillers and antibiotics.

Jamal now endures dozens of spasms each day. There is no alternative medication or substitute. There is no relief, only pain.

Jamal’s story is not to be told if the likes of former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are to have their way.

Read more here.

A woman holding the hand of a young boy looks towards destroyed buildings at the Nuseirat camp for Palestinian refugees in central Gaza, on January 31, 2026 [AFP]
3 Feb 2026 - 21:45
 (21:45 GMT)

Israeli army says it fired on Palestinians in occupied West Bank’s Jericho

The Israeli army had released a statement following reports that it killed a 24-year-old Palestinian man in Jericho, in the occupied West Bank.

It said its forces opened fire on “a number of terrorists who hurled rocks”. “One terrorist was eliminated, and hits were identified on the additional terrorists,” the statement added.

Israel routinely refers to Palestinians as “terrorists” despite its occupation of Palestinian territory being illegal under international law.

3 Feb 2026 - 21:30
 (21:30 GMT)

WATCH: Why is evidence of  Israel’s war crimes in Gaza disappearing?

Many of the images that have been seen from Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza have been seen for the last time.

With Gaza under siege from the Israeli military and tech companies censoring and taking down material, the responsibility falls on the people of Gaza to document and archive their own evidence of war crimes and genocide.

How will it survive?

Watch the episode of The Take below:

3 Feb 2026 - 21:15
 (21:15 GMT)

Hezbollah disarmament under question before Lebanon army chief’s visit to US

Lebanon’s army commander, Joseph Haykal, is set to visit the US this week, amid pressure to proceed with the disarmament of Hezbollah.

Washington will seek progress on what it calls the second phase of a broader disarmament framework brokered in November 2024. While Hezbollah has so far refused to disarm, other issues also remain unresolved, including the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanese territory and their continued air strikes on southern Lebanon.

Opposition MP Ibrahim Mneimneh told Al Jazeera that Lebanon has proven its seriousness in wanting to disarm Hezbollah, yet Israel’s actions have been an obstacle.

“We need to be able to ensure the stability of the south so we can initiate the reconstruction process,” he said. “Without the reconstruction, we will not have any kind of proper stability in the south or in the region.”

Analyst Joe Macaron told Al Jazeera that Lebanese residents in the south were “eager for the role of the state in the construction and services”, while it was clear to Hezbollah that its “plan to deter Israel has failed”.

3 Feb 2026 - 21:00
 (21:00 GMT)

Israeli forces kill Palestinian man in occupied West Bank’s Jericho city

Saeed Nael Saeed al-Sheikh, a 24-year-old Palestinian man, has been shot dead and three others have been injured by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank city of Jericho, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

Riyad Eid, the director of Jericho Governmental Hospital, told the Wafa news agency that al-Sheikh was shot in the abdomen, which led to a rupture in the liver.

Wafa’s correspondent said that at least six Palestinians were injured during the Israeli raid in the city, including three by live ammunition, two as a result of being beaten, and a woman after being run over by a military vehicle during the raid on the city.

Members of the Israeli army patrol near Jericho in the Israeli-occupied West Bank [File: Ammar Awad/Reuters]
3 Feb 2026 - 20:45
 (20:45 GMT)

Israeli forces shoot Gaza City resident dead, child succumbs to injuries in Khan Younis

A Palestinian person has been shot dead by Israeli forces in the Tuffah neighbourhood of Gaza City, according to the Wafa news agency.

Also this evening, a Palestinian child, Muhammad Shehadeh Abu Hudaid, succumbed to his injuries sustained several days ago in an Israeli bombing of the al-Mawasi area near the enclave’s southern city of Khan Youni, Wafa reported.

3 Feb 2026 - 20:30
 (20:30 GMT)

If you’re just joining us

Here are the latest developments:

  • Palestinian women among the few people let back into Gaza after Israel’s delayed reopening of the Rafah crossing under last year’s “ceasefire” have described being blindfolded, handcuffed and interrogated by Israeli forces as they tried to get home.
  • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told US envoy Steve Witkoff during a meeting in Jerusalem that “the Palestinian Authority will not be involved in governing the Strip in any way”, according to the statement issued by Netanyahu’s office.
  • Riyad Mansour, Palestinian envoy to UN, has addressed the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, saying “Gaza is not a piece of land that is hanging in the air for anyone to grab.”
  • UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for “rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief at scale”, including through the Rafah crossing, at the opening session of the UN’s Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.
  • Israeli authorities have issued demolition orders for 11 buildings in the town of Hizma, northeast of occupied Jerusalem, according to the Wafa news agency.
Patients schedulled for medical evacuation and their companions are transferred to vehicles to be taken to the Rafah border crossing, in Khan Younis, Gaza, on February 03, 2026. [Saeed MMT Jaras/Anadolu]
3 Feb 2026 - 20:15
 (20:15 GMT)

WATCH: Red Cross worker urges more aid access, recounts time in Gaza

3 Feb 2026 - 20:00
 (20:00 GMT)

Photos: Palestinian patients seek to apply for treatment abroad following reopening of Rafah crossing

Palestinian families apply to update their files at Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis in order to seek medical treatment abroad after the Rafah crossing reopened [Abed Rahim Khatib/Anadolu]
[Abed Rahim Khatib/Anadolu]
[Abed Rahim Khatib/Anadolu]

3 Feb 2026 - 19:45
 (19:45 GMT)

Palestinian envoy to UN says Gaza not ‘for anyone to grab’

Riyad Mansour, Palestinian envoy to UN, has addressed the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, saying “Gaza is not a piece of land that is hanging in the air for anyone to grab.”

“It belongs to the Palestinian people,” he continued.

Mansour stressed that the US-brokered “ceasefire” must be lasting and insisted that “Israel should not continue to go and kill our people as they wish in the Gaza Strip and other parts of the occupied Palestinian territory”.

“We want to see the beginning of the withdrawal of the Israeli forces to be out completely of the Gaza Strip,” he said. The second phase of the “ceasefire” deal that was signed in October includes the withdrawal of Israeli troops.

Mansour added that Gaza and the occupied West Bank “constitute a single territorial unit” that must be unified under the Palestinian Authority.

Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations Riyad Mansour [File: Eduardo Munoz/Reuters]
3 Feb 2026 - 19:30
 (19:30 GMT)

Israeli forces arrest Palestinian man in Silwan, raid towns across West Bank

Israeli forces have arrested a Palestinian man in the Silwan neighbourhood of occupied East Jerusalem, according to the Wafa news agency.

Separately, several Palestinians suffered tear gas inhalation during an Israeli raid on the Arroub refugee camp, north of Hebron.

Local sources told Wafa that Israeli forces stormed the camp, searched several homes and forced shops to close.

The army also raided the town of Tuqu, southeast of Bethlehem, sparking clashes with Palestinian residents around the municipality. Israeli soldiers fired live ammunition, tear gas, and stun grenades, but no injuries were reported.

Israeli security officers deploy after firing tear gas during clashes with Palestinian residents as Israeli authorities demolish shops in occupied East Jerusalem’s Silwan neighbourhood [File: Ahmad Gharabli/AFP]
3 Feb 2026 - 19:15
 (19:15 GMT)

Palestinian Authority will not be part of Gaza governance ‘in any way’, Netanyahu tells Witkoff

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told US envoy Steve Witkoff during a meeting in Jerusalem that “the Palestinian Authority will not be involved in governing the Strip in any way”, according to the statement issued by Netanyahu’s office.

He also said Hamas must be disarmed before Gaza’s reconstruction begins, the office said.

United States Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff listens during a cabinet meeting at the White House, January 29, 2026, in Washington, DC, the US [File: Evan Vucci/AP]
3 Feb 2026 - 19:00
 (19:00 GMT)

Israel issues 11 demolition orders against homes near Jerusalem

Israeli authorities have issued demolition orders for 11 buildings in the town of Hizma, northeast of occupied Jerusalem, according to the Wafa news agency.

The Jerusalem Governorate said Israeli forces stormed the town and gave Palestinian owners an evacuation order, according to the news outlet.

The town is subjected to frequent incursions by Israeli forces, during which homes are raided, and some are converted into military outposts.

Israeli authorities have significantly intensified eviction and demolition orders targeting Palestinian property in and around occupied East Jerusalem.

3 Feb 2026 - 18:45
 (18:45 GMT)

Palestinian women describe ‘journey of horror’ crossing back into Gaza

Palestinian women among the few people let back into Gaza after Israel’s delayed reopening of the Rafah crossing under last year’s “ceasefire” have described being blindfolded, handcuffed and interrogated by Israeli forces as they tried to get home.

Their journey from Egypt on Monday through the frontier post and across the “yellow line” zone controlled by Israel and an allied Palestinian militia group, involved lengthy delays and the confiscation of gifts, including toys, one of the women said.

“It was a journey of horror, humiliation and oppression,” 56-year-old Huda Abu Abed told the Reuters news agency by phone from the tent her family is living in at Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

Her account ⁠was supported by that of another woman Reuters interviewed.

In response to a Reuters request for comment, Israel’s military denied its forces had acted inappropriately or mistreated Palestinians crossing into Gaza, without addressing the specific allegations made by the two women interviewed.

3 Feb 2026 - 18:30
 (18:30 GMT)

Photos: Cold, wet weather worsens conditions of displaced Palestinians in central Gaza

Displaced Palestinians living in the az-Zawayda area in the central Gaza Strip cope with cold and wet weather conditions in makeshift tents on February 3, 2026 [Moiz Salhi/Anadolu]
[Moiz Salhi/Anadolu]
[Moiz Salhi/Anadolu]

3 Feb 2026 - 18:15
 (18:15 GMT)

Amnesty demands Israel drop death penalty bills ‘entrenching apartheid’

Amnesty International has called on Israel to abandon legislation that would expand the use of the death penalty, warning that the measures would violate international law and “further entrench Israel’s apartheid system” against Palestinians.

In a statement on Tuesday, the human rights group said two bills under discussion in the Knesset would mark a major reversal of Israel’s longstanding opposition to capital punishment and would disproportionately target Palestinians.

The proposals, championed by government figures, including far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, would make the death penalty “another discriminatory tool in Israel’s system of apartheid”, Amnesty International said.

“These amendments mean that the most extreme and irrevocable punishment is being reserved for, and weaponised against, Palestinians,” it said.

“If adopted, these bills would distance Israel from the vast majority of states which have rejected the death penalty in law or in practice, while further entrenching its cruel system of apartheid against all Palestinians whose rights Israel controls.”

Read more here.

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has been pushing for the expansion of Israel’s death penalty laws [File: Oren Ben Hakoon/Reuters]
3 Feb 2026 - 18:00
 (18:00 GMT)

More on Guterres’s opening remarks at the UN committee

As we’ve reported, the United Nations chief has delivered a speech at the opening session of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. Here’s more on what he said:

  • Gaza must remain an integral part of a Palestinian state.
  • Any sustainable solution must be consistent with international law, and the occupied Palestinian territories must be run by “a unified, legitimate, and internationally recognised Palestinian Government”.
  • The E1 settlement expansion project – which includes 3,401 additional housing units – is “profoundly alarming” and would deliver a “severe blow” to the two-state solution. Such actions are unlawful as deemed by the International Court of Justice.
  • The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) is part of the UN and, as such, is “inviolable and immune from any form of interference”. States must continue to politically and financially support its mandate.
  • The Israeli occupation “must end” and “the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people must be realised”.
  • The only viable route is a two-state solution. The international community must act in accordance “with clarity, unity and determination”.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a news conference outlining his priorities for 2026 at the UN headquarters in New York City, the United States, January 29, 2026 [Eduardo Munoz/Reuters]

Israeli restrictions mean only five Palestinians allowed to leave Gaza for treatment via Rafah crossing on first day.

Published On 2 Feb 2026

The Rafah border crossing is once again operational as part of the US-brokered ‘ceasefire’.

Published On 2 Feb 2026