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On Thursday, Israel declared its intention to reopen the Rafah border crossing, facilitating travel between Gaza and Egypt for the first time since May 2024.
The Coordinator for Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), responsible for managing humanitarian and civil affairs in Gaza, announced that the crossing will be accessible starting Sunday, February 1st. The opening will allow limited movement of people in both directions.
COGAT specified that residents returning from Egypt to Gaza will be allowed entry, provided they left during the war and have obtained prior security clearance from Israel. This process is being coordinated with Egyptian authorities, as detailed in a statement from COGAT.
The statement further explained that individuals will undergo an initial identification and screening process at the Rafah Crossing by the European Union mission. Subsequently, a secondary screening and identification will take place in a specially designated corridor managed by the defense establishment within an area controlled by the IDF.
An Egyptian military vehicle is stationed near the Rafah border crossing, linking Egypt and the Gaza Strip, in Rafah, Egypt, as captured on August 6, 2025. (Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters)
This will be the first opening of the Rafah crossing for people since Israel seized the area in May 2024, according to Reuters. Israeli forces captured the territory as part of an effort to prevent arms smuggling into Gaza by the terrorist group Hamas.
In early 2025, there was an evacuation of medical patients along the route during a temporary ceasefire, The Associated Press reported.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office had said Sunday that Israel agreed to a “limited reopening” of the crossing under President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan.
A truck carrying humanitarian aid at the Rafah border on the Egyptian side, in Rafah, Egypt, on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026. (Reuters)
“As part of President Trump’s 20-point plan, Israel has agreed to a limited reopening of the Rafah Crossing for pedestrian passage only, subject to a full Israeli inspection mechanism,” the Office of the Prime Minister of Israel wrote.
The Prime Minister’s Office said the reopening was contingent on the return of all living hostages and what it described as a “100 percent effort” by Hamas to locate and return the remains of all deceased hostages.
Israeli soldiers drive past destroyed buildings in Rafah in the Gaza Strip on Sept. 13, 2024. (Sharon Aronowicz/AFP via Getty Images)
Israel on Monday then confirmed that the remains of Staff Sgt. Ran Gvili, the last Israeli hostage held in Gaza, have been recovered and returned home after 842 days.