Claims of renewed fighting in Rafah have further strained an already fragile ceasefire, deepening uncertainty for civilians gathered around Gaza’s southern gateway. Israeli authorities said four Palestinian men were killed near the border area after emerging from underground passages, an incident presented as a breach of the truce. For residents of Rafah, the episode reinforced a familiar reality: even pauses in the genocidal war remain punctured by lethal force, while ordinary life stays suspended.

The events unfolded as limited movement through the Rafah crossing resumed under tight restrictions. After months of closure, the gate to Egypt reopened briefly, allowing a small number of patients and their companions to leave Gaza for treatment abroad. The numbers were modest and the conditions severe, with approvals granted case by case. Families described long waits, sudden closures and a process shaped more by security calculations than humanitarian need.

International organisations have repeatedly warned that such partial openings fall far short of what is required to avert a wider humanitarian collapse. Medical evacuations remain rare, aid flows constrained, and entire neighbourhoods continue to live under the threat of renewed violence despite the ceasefire announced in October. Local health officials say casualties have continued to mount since then, underscoring how little protection the truce has offered to the population.

As political leaders trade accusations over who violated the agreement first, Gaza’s residents see the consequences play out on the ground. For them, the language of statements and counter-statements offers little comfort. What defines the moment is not diplomacy, but the persistence of a genocidal war in which even moments labelled as calm can turn deadly without warning.