Gaza oversight officials say Rafah Crossing to reopen in both directions next week

Israel makes no announcement, but official says topic to be discussed during Sunday cabinet meeting; Board of Peace Gaza envoy says working to ‘expedite the search’ for last hostage

The head of the technocrat committee set to rule Gaza announced Thursday that the Rafah border crossing between the Strip and Egypt will open next week in both directions, although Israel did not immediately confirm that would be the case.

Ali Shaath, the chief commissioner of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, said during US President Donald Trump’s launch ceremony for Gaza’s Board of Peace in Davos, Switzerland, that the key crossing point between Gaza and Egypt will open next week for both the entry and exit of Gazans.

“For Palestinians in Gaza, Rafah is more than a gate; it is a lifeline and symbol of opportunity. Opening Rafah signals that Gaza is no longer closed to the future and the world,” said NCAG head Shaath, a former minister in the Palestinian Authority, speaking at the World Economic Forum.

An Israeli official quoted in Hebrew media outlets maintained, however, that the crossing would remain closed until the body of Ran Gvili, the last remaining hostage in Gaza, was returned to Israel. But a separate Israeli official confirmed that the issue was slated to be discussed by the cabinet next week.

At the cabinet meeting on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will discuss the return of Gvili’s body and opening the Rafah Crossing, an Israeli official said Thursday.

The official added that there is a “special effort” to bring Gvili back “by taking full advantage of the information in our hands.”

Nikolay Mladenov, the Board of Peace’s Gaza envoy, also confirmed Thursday that the crossing will reopen soon.

“I am pleased that an agreement has been reached regarding the preparation for reopening of the Rafah crossing,” Mladenov wrote on X. “Concurrently, we are working with Israel and the [NCAG] to expedite the search for the remaining Israeli hostage.”

Mladenov added that “we are currently coordinating logistics on implementing this agreement” and thanked Israel, among others, for their “dedicated efforts.”

The key Rafah Border Crossing has remained a contentious topic as the US pushes ahead with its ambitious peace plan for Gaza. In early December, Israel announced that it would open the crossing in only one direction, allowing Gazans to leave, but Egypt pushed back against Israel not allowing entry to the Strip, and the crossing remained closed.

Under Trump’s 20-point plan for Gaza, the crossing was supposed to resume operating under the first phase, which came into effect in October, but Israel has maintained that it won’t move ahead with that until Hamas agrees to disarm and returns Gvili’s body.

Earlier this month, a US official told The Times of Israel that the issue of the crossing was raised during a meeting in Florida between Trump and Netanyahu, and that the Americans expected it to be opened soon.

According to Hebrew media reports, far-right ministers in the cabinet refused to approve reopening the crossing earlier this week due to frustration over the inclusion of senior officials from Turkey and Qatar in the Board of Peace’s Gaza Executive Board.

The Rafah Crossing was shut by Egypt after Israeli forces seized the Gaza side in May 2024, but was briefly reopened in early 2025 during a short-lived ceasefire.

For a long time, the crossing was the main exit point for Palestinians from Gaza who were authorized to leave the narrow strip of land, which has been under Israeli-Egyptian blockade since 2007 aimed at preventing terror groups from smuggling in weapons.

According to a Channel 12 report this month, the IDF will operate its own inspection site on the Israeli-controlled Gazan side of the reopened crossing, in addition to Egyptian and international forces that will secure the crossing itself.

The Israeli site will be equipped with devices to monitor people entering Gaza, and the IDF will be able to turn back people trying to enter the Strip from Egypt, the network said.

Agencies and Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.