Khan Yunis, PS time is Sunday, January 4, 2026 at 7:15 AM. באר שבע, IL time is Sunday, January 4, 2026 at 7:15 AM. Rafah, PS time is Sunday, January 4, 2026 at 7:15 AM.
Rafah, Egypt – Angelina Jolie, the Oscar-winning actress and former UN Special Envoy for Refugees, visited the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing on Friday, January 2, 2026, as Israel threatens to suspend operations of several humanitarian organizations in Gaza. Accompanied by an American delegation, Jolie met with humanitarian workers and volunteers, and spoke with members of the Red Crescent and truck drivers responsible for ferrying aid into Gaza.
Local media reports indicated that Jolie's visit aimed to assess the conditions of injured Palestinians receiving care in Egypt and to examine aid deliveries into Gaza. She also visited patients in a hospital in Arish. Jolie expressed that she was "honored" to meet the volunteers. A Red Crescent volunteer told Jolie that thousands of aid trucks were waiting at the border crossing. During the visit, Jolie reportedly announced plans to establish a relief village for orphaned children in Gaza, providing a safe haven for those who lost family members.
Jolie, in a statement, said she spoke with aid agencies struggling to overcome restrictions on delivering assistance into Gaza. She stated that she walked through a large warehouse filled with supplies that had been denied entry, most of them medical in nature.
This visit occurs amidst rising concerns regarding humanitarian aid access to Gaza. Egypt and six other countries, including Saudi Arabia, have jointly urged the international community to pressure Israel to immediately lift constraints on the entry and distribution of essential supplies to Gaza.
Concurrently, Israel announced it would suspend the operations of more than two dozen humanitarian organizations in Gaza, including Doctors Without Borders, starting January 1, 2026. The Israeli Ministry of Diaspora Affairs stated that these organizations failed to meet new requirements for non-governmental organizations providing aid in Gaza. These requirements include providing a full list of Palestinian employees.
Israel claims these measures are necessary to prevent the exploitation of aid by Hamas. COGAT (Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories) stated that the new registration process is intended to prevent Hamas from operating under the cover of aid organizations. They also stated that the contributions of the suspended groups account for only 1% of the total aid volume in Gaza, minimizing the impact of the suspensions.
However, aid groups, the UN, and the EU have criticized Israel's new rules as arbitrary, onerous, and potentially crippling to the relief effort. Some organizations refused to submit lists of Palestinian staff, fearing they would be targeted and citing data protection laws. They warn that these suspensions will harm the civilian population desperately in need of humanitarian aid. Doctors Without Borders stated that the decision would have a catastrophic impact on their work in Gaza, where they support a significant portion of hospital beds and births. The organization also denied claims that some of its workers were affiliated with Hamas or Islamic Jihad.
The Rafah border crossing, intended to reopen under the ceasefire in effect since October, has remained closed. In early December, Israel announced the crossing would only be open for those wishing to leave Gaza, a move that Cairo quickly denied approving.
