US EditionIsrael will reopen Gaza’s border crossing with Egypt on Sunday, after nearly 2 years of closure
- Jan 30: Israel announced it will reopen the Rafah border crossing on Sunday, allowing limited pedestrian travel between Gaza and Egypt, COGAT said.
- The decision followed recovery of the last hostage this week, Ran Gvili, clearing the way for reopening as part of the first phase of U.S. President Donald Trump's ceasefire plan.
- COGAT said travelers will need prior Israeli security clearance and Egypt coordination, with pedestrian-only crossings screened by the European Union mission and Israeli security establishment, while Egypt provides daily lists limited to several hundred people.
- Tens of thousands are expected to return through Rafah, the sole route for more than 2 million Gaza residents, but only residents who left Gaza during the war with prior Israeli security approval may enter.
- The crossing was seized by Israel in May 2024, about nine months into the Gaza war, and Israeli officials said throughput should rise after upgrades despite Hamas's demand for goods access being rejected by the Israeli military.
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Lines of trucks loaded with gasoline, relief supplies, and restrooms waited Sunday at the Palestinian-Egyptian border crossing. Israel…
In December, the Israeli Government had indicated that it would prohibit 37 humanitarian organizations from operating in Gaza as of 1 March for failing to provide detailed information on their Palestinian personnel. MSF, for its part, claimed that it had not received "the necessary guarantees" regarding the security of its members.
Rafah Reopens — and With It, the Risks Israel Worked Months to Eliminate
The reopening of the Rafah Crossing may be framed diplomatically as “progress,” but from Israel’s security perspective, it is a calculated risk — one that reintroduces vulnerabilities the Israel Defense Forces spent months fighting to close. Yes, today’s activity is only a trial run. Yes, Hamas is not formally running the gate. But history offers a cold warning: Rafah has never been just a civilian crossing. It has been Gaza’s pressure valve — …
Israel piloting limited border reopening between Gaza and Egypt
Gaza’s Rafah border crossing with Egypt reopened on Sunday for the first time since the IDF captured it in May 2024, with a limited pedestrian pilot program. “The Rafah crossing has reopened for movement of people only,” the Defence Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) unit said. “Today, a pilot is underway to test and assess the operation of the crossing. The movement of residents in both directions, entry …
Israel will suspend the work of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in Gaza after it failed to provide a list of its Palestinian and international staff, the Israeli Diaspora Affairs Ministry said on Monday, a move that could leave hundreds of thousands of people in the enclave without basic medical care.
After months of systematic blockade, the Israeli Government begins testing to rehabilitate the border crossing.
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