The Latest Breaking News from Rafah

As the bombs fall behind them, desperate Palestinians mass at the Rafah border crossing. This is just what Netanyahu wants, writes Cairo-based journalist Sharif Abdel Kouddous

Israeli defence minister tells troops they will soon see Palestinian territory ‘from the inside’; hopes for aid to enter Gaza in coming days

President Joe Biden says he struck a deal with his Egyptian counterpart to allow a first run of 20 trucks carrying humanitarian aid to enter Gaza, which Israel sealed off after the Hamas attack on Oct. 7.

President Biden has helped negotiate aid deal into Gaza, but hasn’t gotten Americans out

The head of the UN health agency says five trucks of medical supplies are ready at the Rafah crossing in Egypt.

U.N. officials and their partners are ramping up efforts to take advantage of a possible window for Israel and Egypt to allow humanitarian aid shipments into Gaza, whose people have been stripped of deliveries of fuel, food, water and medical supplies from the outside as Israeli forces strike at Hamas…

As aid remains blocked at the Rafah crossing, and Cairo residents collect donations, many ask when the border will open.

The US has evacuated citizens out of Israel as the conflict intensifies, but Palestinian-Americans remain trapped in Gaza with little time and few options, advocates tell Josh Marcus

Five truckloads of supplies are ready to go as soon as the border is opened, WHO officials said—but they need assurances that those delivering them will be allowed to safely do so.

Israel, the US and Egypt have said vital aid for Gaza could begin to flow in the next few days

Twenty trucks preparing to enter Gaza through Rafah crossing, but Israel says aid will halt if seized by Hamas