TNA Staff
The New Arab / January 28, 2026
Israel has reportedly agreed to allow some reconstruction in Rafah despite Netanyahu saying that no construction would happen if Hamas refuses to give up arms.
Israel has agreed to allow Palestinians to start reconstruction in the Gaza Strip’s southern city of Rafah, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on Wednesday.
This came even as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes in Gaza, said on Tuesday that there would be no reconstruction in the enclave before Hamas agrees to disarm.
Prior to the Israeli approval, US officials told their Israeli counterparts that they should distinguish between “old” and “new” Gaza, according to Haaretz, with the former being under Hamas and the latter under the governance of a technocratic committee due to be set up soon.
Construction of Gaza would begin in “new Rafah” before Hamas’ disarmament, and move onto “old Gaza” after the disarmament.
Israel had already been removing construction waste and explosive ordinance from the area, and approved the workers and contractor slated for the project, although international funding is yet to be determined.
The Rafah border crossing, set to open soon, will allow 150 Palestinians to return to Gaza per day, with a larger number permitted to leave, the Haaretz report added, amid fears that this could be part of an Israeli plan to depopulate the Gaza Strip.
Israel has agreed to partially reopen the Rafah border crossing following the retrieval of the body of the final Israeli captive held in the enclave.
Despite the report, on Tuesday evening, Netanyahu said that reconstruction won’t happen before Hamas’s disarmament, saying, “I am already hearing the statements that we will allow Gaza’s reconstruction before demilitarization. That will not happen.”
UNICEF working on Gaza schooling
The reported plans for reconstruction come as UNICEF says it is scaling up access to schooling under the ‘Our Back to Learning’ program, which aims to provide schooling and early child support for 335,000 children under five in the enclave, who are at risk of developmental delays due to the collapse of the education system during the war.
According to UNICEF, 90 percent of Gaza’s schools have either been damaged or destroyed in Israel’s genocidal war on the enclave, which has left Gaza’s housing, hospitals, and basic infrastructure in tatters and killed over 71,000 Palestinians.
“Before the war, Palestinians in Gaza had some of the highest literacy rates in the world,” James Elder, spokesperson for UNICEF, said, adding, “Today, that legacy is under attack: schools, universities, and libraries have been destroyed, and years of progress erased.”
UNICEF estimates that it will need $86 million for the program for a year.
Stressing the importance of the education system for Gaza’s reconstruction, Elder said that “Back to Learning isn’t then just about survival. It’s about protecting the engine of Gaza’s future.”
Amid efforts to restart schooling in Gaza, the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis warned of a meningitis outbreak, saying that nine patients had been admitted to the hospital in the past month, most of whom come from families suffering from malnutrition.
Israel continues ceasefire violations
Israel has continued to violate the ceasefire in Gaza which has theoretically been in effect since last October, with Al-Jazeera reporting shelling and gunfire in Gaza overnight. Israeli forces also killed four Palestinians in Gaza City’s Al-Tuffah neighborhood on Tuesday.
The New Arab’s sister site Al-Araby al-Jadeed reported that Israeli forces have continued to blow up residential homes in the Al-Tuffah neighbourhood.
In the occupied West Bank, Israeli forces wounded two Palestinians during raids in Tulkarm, with Wafa reporting that Khader Muhammad Shahada and his sister Sadeel were both shot in the thigh after exiting their house. Khader was then detained by Israeli forces.
At least 130 Palestinians, including two women and a child, have been detained in overnight Israeli raids across the territory.
Twenty-year-old Palestinian Muhammad Rajih Nasrallah died on Tuesday evening after being shot in his abdomen by Israeli forces in the town of Al-Dhahiriya south of Hebron/Al-Khalil.
Attacks by Jewish settlers have also continued, with settlers damaging homes in the town of Sa’ir northeast of Hebron/Al-Khalil, and injuring several Palestinians in Masafer Yatta on Tuesday evening.
Settlers also uprooted 200 olive trees in the town of Turmus Ayya, north of Ramallah on Wednesday.
