GAZA CITY, Palestine: Israeli attacks continued in Gaza on Wednesday despite a US-brokered ceasefire, as a small group of Palestinians returned through the partially reopened Rafah crossing and the United Nations began clearing a vast wartime rubbish dump in Gaza City.
Forty-one Palestinians entered Gaza on Tuesday evening via the Rafah crossing with Egypt, becoming the seventh group of returnees since the crossing partially reopened on February 2, according to Gaza’s Government Media Office.
The returnees arrived on buses operated by the World Health Organization and were taken to Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, witnesses, cited by Al Jazeera, said.
Some told local media they had faced extensive searches and questioning by Israeli authorities, who control the Palestinian side of the crossing.
Rafah, the only crossing not directly controlled by Israel before the war, had remained largely closed during the conflict that began in October 2023.
Its reopening formed part of a ceasefire arrangement brokered by Washington last year.
Since the partial reopening, 172 Palestinians have returned to Gaza, while about 250 people — mainly patients requiring urgent medical treatment abroad and their companions — have been allowed to leave, the Government Media Office said.
Under the ceasefire terms, around 50 patients per day were expected to be evacuated with two companions each.
Health officials in Gaza say the current pace falls far short of the needs of roughly 20,000 patients awaiting treatment outside the Palestinian territory.
Gaza’s Health Ministry says 22 hospitals have been put out of service during the Israeli bombardment campaign and around 1,700 medical workers have been killed.
The health ministry said that at least 72,045 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli military offensive in Gaza since October 2023.
Ceasefire violations
Despite the ceasefire announced in October, violence has continued.
On Wednesday, a Palestinian child was wounded by Israeli gunfire in the Batn as-Sameen area south of Khan Younis, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported, citing medical sources.
Israeli air strikes and artillery shelling also targeted areas east of Khan Younis, according to local journalists.
At least seven Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks on Tuesday, including three in central Gaza and one north of Khan Younis, Palestinian officials said.
The Gaza Government Media Office said 591 Palestinians have been killed and 1,578 injured since the ceasefire took effect.
It accused Israel of committing more than 1,600 violations of the truce between October 10, 2025 and February 10, 2026. Israel has not publicly responded to those specific figures.
Agnes Callamard, secretary general of Amnesty International, said on X that Israel’s “genocide of Gaza has not stopped”, calling for accountability and justice.
UN begins clearing vast rubbish dump
Amid mounting humanitarian concerns, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) said on Wednesday it had begun clearing a huge rubbish dump that has engulfed the historic Fras Market area of Gaza City.
Alessandro Mrakic, head of the UNDP Gaza office, said more than 300,000 cubic metres of solid waste, rising up to 13 metres high, had accumulated after municipal crews were prevented from accessing Gaza’s main landfill in Juhr al-Dik, an area now under Israeli control.
Over the next six months, UNDP plans to transfer the waste to a temporary site in the Abu Jarad area south of Gaza City.
The Gaza Municipality said about 350,000 cubic metres of rubbish had piled up in the city centre, posing severe environmental and health risks.
Amjad al-Shawa, head of the Palestinian NGOs Network, said the dump had contributed to the spread of insects and disease.
“It is a symbol of the war,” he told Reuters, adding that its removal may give residents “a sense of hope” that the ceasefire will hold.
UNDP said it has collected more than 570,000 tonnes of waste across Gaza since the war began.
