The Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson has said Doha is engaged with mediators to reopen the Rafah crossing into besieged Gaza and deliver aid.

Communications are ongoing, spokesman Majed Al-Ansari said in a press conference Tuesday, though more details were not immediately available.

“We are working with mediator[s] to ensure we reach the second phase of Gaza ceasefire. We demanded that humanitarian aid is not used as a political blackmail,” Al-Ansari said.

Reopening Gaza’s Rafah crossing with Egypt was a condition of the first phase of the ceasefire that went into effect October 10. But it has remained closed as humanitarian groups say that Israeli restrictions continue to hamper aid deliveries, a clear violation of the agreement.

The crossing had long been Gaza’s only connection to the outside world until the Israeli military occupied the Palestinian side in May 2024.

The latest rumour of a potential reopening came on January 1, when Israel’s Kan broadcaster reported that Israeli authorities were preparing to reopen the crossing in “both directions” following pressure from US President Donald Trump.

A two-way opening would mark a shift from an earlier Israeli policy that stated the crossing would only open “exclusively for the exit of residents from the Gaza Strip to Egypt”. The policy drew condemnation from regional governments, including Egypt and Qatar, with officials warning against the ethnic cleansing of Gaza.

Hope, and trepidation, over potential reopening

Although many Palestinians expressed relief at the thought of the Rafah crossing reopening for medical treatment and education, others fear it will indeed be used to ferry Palestinians permanently out of Gaza under the guise of fulfilling the ceasefire agreement.

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Tasnim Jaras, a student in Gaza City, told Al Jazeera that it was her “dream that the crossing opens so we can continue our education”.

Moaeen al-Jarousha, who was wounded in the war, said he needed to leave Gaza to receive medical treatment abroad. “I need immediate medical intervention. I live in very difficult conditions,” he said.

Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Gaza City, said many families see Rafah as “an opportunity to reunite with family members who have been separated for too long”.

“But hope here is never simple,” he added. “People here have heard about these announcements numerous times, and many recall how quickly it shut again.”

And although Palestinians hope that Rafah will allow for movement both in and out of Gaza, “we know the Israeli military is pushing for Rafah to be just a one-way exit”, Mahmoud said.

Israel has meanwhile kept up its bombardment of Gaza in violation of the ceasefire. On Monday, Israeli forces bombed a tent where displaced Palestinians were sheltering, killing a five-year-old girl and her uncle, officials said. Four others – including children – were also wounded.

The killings brought the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces since the truce came into effect in October to at least 422, according to Gaza health authorities.