Israel will reopen the Rafah border crossing on Sunday for people to travel between Gaza and Egypt, the Israeli government agency that coordinates civilian policy in Gaza, COGAT, said on Friday.
A gate at the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, in Rafah, Egypt, January 29, 2026, Reuters
Israel will reopen the Rafah border crossing on Sunday for people to travel between Gaza and Egypt, the Israeli government agency that coordinates civilian policy in Gaza, COGAT, said on Friday.
"The return of residents from Egypt to the Gaza Strip will be permitted, in coordination with Egypt, for residents who left Gaza during the course of the war only, and only after prior security clearance by Israel," COGAT said.
The Rafah crossing is effectively the sole route in or out of Gaza for nearly all of the more than 2 million people who live there.
Israel seized the border crossing in May 2024, about nine months into the Gaza war. Reopening it was an important requirement under the first phase of U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to stop fighting between Israel and Hamas militants, which followed a ceasefire agreed in October.
Israel had said it would reopen it only after recovering the body of the last Israeli hostage in Gaza, which took place this week.
Reporting by Steven Scheer and Rami Ayoub
Senior Israeli and Lebanese officials denied on Thursday that there had been any Israeli withdrawal from occupied southern Lebanon, after a U.S. official said Israel had pulled some troops back in a good faith gesture toward Lebanon's government.
The United States' top diplomat sought backing from sceptical Gulf allies on Wednesday for President Donald Trump's deal with Iran to end their war, while in another challenge to the accord, Israel insisted it would keep troops in southern Lebanon.
Moroccan military personnel arrived in Israel on June 18 to join the headquarters of the International Stabilization Force (ISF) in southern Israel, Donald Trump's "Peace Council" announced Tuesday on X.
To make this website run properly and to improve your experience, we use cookies. For more detailed information, please check our Cookie Policy.
Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.