The reopening of Rafah, the border crossing between Gaza and Egypt, has rekindled the hope (or at least raised a previously unthinkable question) of returning to the Strip for the approximately 100,000 Palestinians who managed to escape almost two years ago from the constant air strikes, forced displacement, and hardships of the Israeli offensive. Almost all of them did so within the first seven months of the war, until Israeli troops seized Rafah in May 2024 and Gazans lost their only exit route.
The Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt has reopened partially for a few Palestinians after an 18-month closure in tandem with an added restriction to control the movement of returnees. The Israeli army has set up a checkpoint called Regavim in an area under its control outside the crossing for those entering Gaza from Egypt. As the first trickle of humanity passed through the gates on Monday, official Israeli military documents gave it a name that indicates the facility is no longer being treated as a border crossing but as an operation for population control.
Israel says it has partially reopened the critical Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt in a limited capacity. Israel announced on Sunday that the crossing had reopened in a trial. Meanwhile, COGAT, the Israeli military agency that controls aid to Gaza, said in a statement that the crossing was actively being prepared for fuller operation, adding that residents of Gaza would begin to pass through it on Monday.
Live updatesLive updates, Israel carries out deadly attacks in Gaza a day before the Rafah crossing is due to reopen. At least 12 Palestinians, including six children, have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza City and Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip since dawn, according to medical sources speaking to Al Jazeera. The violence comes a day before Israel is due to reopen the Rafah crossing, which links Gaza with Egypt, on Sunday for the first time since May 2024.
US officials have discussed the second phase of President Donald Trump's Gaza peace plan with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a trip to Israel on Saturday. US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff was visiting Israel as part of a US delegation that also included Jared Kushner, Senior Advisor Aryeh Lightstone, and White House advisor Josh Gruenbaum. The Trump administration has been pushing for the start of the second phase of the 20-point peace plan, which would involve the reopening of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.
On December 3, Israel announced that the Rafah border crossing with Egypt would reopen in the coming days, allowing Palestinians to leave Gaza for the first time in months. The statement was, of course, framed as a humanitarian gesture that would allow those in urgent need to travel for medical care, education or family reunification to leave. However, Israel's announcement was met almost immediately with Egypt's denial, followed by a firm rejection from several Arab and Muslim states.
The Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt will remain closed until further notice, Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has said, adding its reopening will depend on Hamas handing over the bodies of deceased hostages as the two sides continued to trade blame over ceasefire violations. Hamas, in a statement late on Saturday, said Netanyahu's decision to keep the crossing closed constitutes a blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement and a repudiation of the commitments he made to the mediators and guarantor parties.
The Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt will stay closed until further notice, Israel has said, after the Palestinian embassy in Cairo said the territory's sole gateway to the outside world would reopen on Monday. The statement by Benjamin Netanyahu's office said reopening Rafah would depend on how Hamas fulfils its ceasefire role of returning the remains of all 28 dead hostages.
Gaza's media office has accused Israel of violating the ceasefire with Hamas 47 times since the truce came into effect in early October, killing 38 Palestinians and wounding another 143. These violations have included crimes of direct gunfire against civilians, deliberate shelling and targeting, and the arrest of a number of civilians, reflecting the occupation's continued policy of aggression despite the declared end of the war, reads the statement.
Rafah border crossing with Egypt due to open Aid trucks start entering other crossings Hamas hands over two more bodies late on Wednesday Israel identifying hostage remains Israel had warned it could keep Rafah shut and reduce aid supplies because it said Hamas was returning bodies too slowly, showing the risks to a truce that has stopped two years of devastating warfare in Gaza and seen all living hostages held by Hamas freed.
Truckloads of aid are entering Gaza, but the long-promised surge in deliveries has yet to materialize. Israeli officials say the Rafah border crossing will remain closed until the bodies of all slain hostages are returned. Also, clashes have escalated between Taliban forces and Pakistani troops along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. And, a discussion with an investigative journalist about a financial fraud case linked to Russia.
