Israel has refused to reopen Rafah until Hamas returns the remains of deceased hostages. So far, only a fraction of those bodies have been recovered, in part, by the sheer scale of destruction in Gaza. Entire neighborhoods have been reduced to rubble. Hospitals, morgues, and civil infrastructure lie in ruins. To demand the immediate recovery of bodies under these conditions is not a logistical request—it is a political weapon.
The closure of Rafah has sharply reduced the flow of aid into Gaza, where over two million people face starvation, disease, and displacement. The United Nations has confirmed that the current volume of aid—just 300 trucks per day—is “not nearly enough” to meet basic needs. Fuel and medical supplies remain restricted. To withhold food, water, and medicine from the living in exchange for the dead is a violation of the most basic humanitarian principles. It is collective punishment by another name.
International humanitarian law is unambiguous: aid must flow freely to civilians in conflict zones, regardless of political disputes. The Geneva Conventions do not permit the use of corpses—however tragic—as preconditions for life-saving relief. The dead deserve dignity, but the living deserve survival.
The Rafah crossing must be opened immediately and unconditionally. Aid must flow at scale. The return of bodies should be pursued with care and urgency—but not at the cost of starving a population already on the brink.
Despite the ceasefire, foreign journalists are still barred from entering Gaza independently. The Israeli authorities have denied press access, allowing only a handful of reporters in—and typically only when embedded with military units. The Foreign Press Association has repeatedly demanded open, unfiltered entry, but those calls have been ignored, leaving Palestinian journalists to bear the full burden of documenting the war under extreme risk.