Key Points
- Rafah serves as the primary gateway into and out of Gaza.
- Israel assumed control of the border crossing in May 2024.
- Israel kills three more Palestinians in Gaza.
- Gaza death toll has risen to 71,667 deaths since the start of Israel’s war in 2023.
CAIRO: Israel will reopen the Rafah border crossing on Sunday to allow movement between Gaza and Egypt, the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (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 serves as the primary gateway into and out of Gaza for the territory’s population of over two million people.
Israel assumed control of the border crossing in May 2024, approximately nine months after the onset of the conflict in Gaza.
Reopening the crossing was a key condition outlined in the initial phase of the ceasefire proposal advanced by US President Donald Trump, which built upon an earlier truce agreed in October.
Israeli authorities had previously stated that Rafah would remain closed until the remains of the final Israeli hostage held in Gaza were recovered—a condition that was met earlier this week.
Israel kills three more Palestinians in Gaza
The Israeli military said that it killed three Palestinians in the southern Gaza city of Rafah after detecting eight people exiting an underground tunnel, despite an ongoing ceasefire.
In a statement on Friday, the army said Unit 414 identified eight individuals leaving the underground infrastructure in eastern Rafah overnight.
Separately, eyewitnesses reported that an Israeli drone struck a civilian gathering near the Abu Namous roundabout, east of Maghazi refugee camp, early Friday morning, killing two men in an area from which Israeli forces had withdrawn under the ceasefire.
In a related incident, witnesses said Israeli military vehicles and helicopters opened heavy, indiscriminate fire east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, in areas under Israeli control.
Additionally, Israeli fighter jets carried out several airstrikes within Israeli-controlled areas in southern Rafah, while heavy and sporadic gunfire targeted the western parts of the city.
Second phase of Gaza ceasefire
Since a US-brokered ceasefire took effect on October 10, Israel has violated the ceasefire almost daily, killing 492 Palestinians and wounding 1,356, amid continued restrictions on aid and border crossings.
In mid-January, the ceasefire agreement entered its second phase, nearly two years after the start of Israel’s devastating war in Gaza.
This new phase seeks to move beyond a temporary military pause toward long-term political and security arrangements, including disarmament, the establishment of a transitional technocratic administration, and the initiation of large-scale reconstruction efforts.
Israeli occupation forces have already accepted the estimate from the Health Ministry in Palestine’s Gaza that approximately 71,000 Palestinians have been killed during the two-year war.
The health ministry in Gaza has recorded 71,667 deaths since the start of Israel’s war in the Palestinian enclave on October 7, 2023.
