Israel reopening Gaza’s border crossing with Egypt on Sunday after long
closure
[January 31, 2026]
By SAM METZ
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel said Friday that it will reopen the pedestrian
border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt over the weekend,
marking an important step forward for U.S. President Donald Trump’s Gaza
ceasefire plan.
COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of coordinating aid to Gaza,
said in a statement that starting on Sunday a “limited movement of
people only” would be allowed through the Rafah crossing, Gaza’s main
gateway to the outside world.
The announcement followed statements from Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu and Ali Shaath, newly appointed to head the
Palestinian administrative committee governing Gaza’s daily affairs,
that it would likely open soon.
While COGAT said the passage will open in both directions on Sunday,
Shaath said the first day will be a trial for operations and that travel
both ways will start Monday.
Israel as of Friday agreed to allow up to 150 people to leave each day —
50 medical patients with two family members, an official familiar with
the situation told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of
anonymity because they were discussing diplomatic talks. Up to 50 people
who fled during the war can return daily, the source said.
Roughly 20,000 sick and wounded Palestinians need treatment outside
Gaza, according to the territory’s health ministry. Gaza’s health system
was decimated in the war, rendering advanced surgical procedures out of
reach.
COGAT said both Israel and Egypt will vet individuals for exit and entry
through the crossing, which will be supervised by European Union border
patrol agents. In addition to screenings at the crossing, Palestinians
leaving and returning will be screened by Israel in the adjacent
corridor, which remains under Israeli military control.
The crossing has been under a near complete closure since Israel seized
it in May 2024, saying the step was part of a strategy to halt
cross-border arms smuggling by Hamas. It was briefly opened for the
evacuation of medical patients during a short-lived ceasefire in early
2025.
Israel had resisted reopening the crossing, but the recovery of the
remains of the last hostage in Gaza on Monday cleared the way to move
forward. A day later, Netanyahu said the crossing would soon open in a
limited and controlled fashion.
Thousands of Palestinians inside Gaza are trying to leave the
war-battered territory, while tens of thousands who fled the territory
during the heaviest fighting say they want to return home.
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A truck enters the Egyptian gate of the Rafah crossing, heading for
inspection by Israeli authorities before entering the Gaza Strip,
Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohamed Arafat)
The reopening is one of the first steps in the second phase of last
year's U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement, which includes challenging
issues ranging from demilitarizing Gaza to putting in place an
alternative government to oversee rebuilding the mostly destroyed
enclave.
Netanyahu said this week that Israel's focus is on disarming Hamas
and destroying its remaining tunnels. Without these steps, he said
that there would be no reconstruction in Gaza, a stance that could
make Israel’s control over Rafah a key point of leverage.
More deadly strikes in Gaza
Palestinians in Gaza on Friday mourned friends and relatives who
died earlier this week in Israeli strikes, which have slowed but not
stopped since the return of the remains of the final hostage held in
the territory.
Three Palestinians were laid to rest in traditional Islamic funeral
rites. Men gathered to pay their final respects, carrying the
shrouded bodies through the streets before praying over them.
Israel’s military said four people were killed in airstrikes Friday
in central Gaza, saying they were armed and approaching troops near
the ceasefire line dividing Israeli-held areas and most of Gaza’s
Palestinian population.
The most recent deaths Friday are on top of the 492 Palestinians
killed since the ceasefire began in October, according to the Gaza
Health Ministry. The ministry doesn’t distinguish between civilians
and combatants in its figures. It maintains detailed casualty
records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and
independent experts.
___
Associated Press journalists Josef Federman in Jerusalem and Toqa
Ezzidin in Cairo contributed to this report.
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