Israel to reopen Gaza’s Rafah crossing after search for last hostage body ends
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The border was supposed to have opened during the initial phase of US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza.
PHOTO: AFP
JERUSALEM - Israel will reopen Gaza’s Rafah crossing with Egypt for the passage of people only after an operation to locate the body of the last remaining Israeli hostage in the enclave is completed, said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office late on Jan 25.
The border was supposed to have opened during the initial phase of US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war, under a ceasefire reached in October between Israel and Hamas
However, Israel conditioned the reopening on the return of all living hostages held by Palestinian militant factions in Gaza, as well as a “100 per cent effort” by Hamas to locate and return the bodies of all deceased hostages.
All have been returned except for the body of police officer Ran Gvili.
The Israeli military said on Jan 25 that it had launched a “targeted operation” in northern Gaza to retrieve his remains, while an Israeli military official said there were “several intelligence leads” regarding his possible location.
The military “is currently conducting a focused operation to exhaust all of the intelligence that has been gathered in the effort to locate and return the fallen hostage, Master Sergeant Ran Gvili, of blessed memory”, Mr Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.
It added that when the operation is completed, “Israel will open the Rafah crossing”.
On Jan 22, Mr Ali Shaath, head of a transitional Palestinian committee backed by the US to temporarily administer Gaza, said the Rafah crossing would open this week.
It is effectively the sole route in or out of Gaza for nearly all of the more than two million people who live there.
The Gaza side of the crossing has been under Israeli military control since 2024.
“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,” Mr Netanyahu’s office said.
Washington announced in January that the plan had moved into the second phase, under which Israel is expected to withdraw troops farther from Gaza and Hamas is due to yield control of the territory’s administration.
Last week, three sources told Reuters that Israel wants to restrict the number of Palestinians entering Gaza through the border crossing with Egypt to ensure that more are allowed out than in. REUTERS
