By SAM METZ
JERUSALEM (AP) — In a significant development, Israel announced plans to reopen the pedestrian border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt this weekend. This move aligns with U.S. President Donald Trump’s efforts to advance the Gaza ceasefire initiative.
The Israeli military’s coordination office, COGAT, conveyed in a statement that beginning Sunday, there will be “limited movement of people only” through the Rafah crossing, which serves as Gaza’s primary link to the broader world.
Both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ali Shaath, who has recently taken charge of overseeing Gaza’s day-to-day operations, have indicated that the crossing’s reopening was imminent.
Details about how the crossing will function after being closed for almost two years are still being finalized.
While COGAT mentioned that the crossing would be accessible in both directions starting Sunday, Shaath noted that Sunday would serve as a test run, with full two-way travel set to commence on Monday.
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.
An Israeli official who spoke on condition of anonymity in accordance with policy told The Associated Press that dozens of Palestinians would initially be allowed through each way, starting with medical evacuees and Palestinians who fled during the war.
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Trucks line up to enter 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)
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Trucks line up to enter 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)
Gaza’s health system was decimated in the war, rendering advanced surgical procedures out of reach. Roughly 20,000 sick and wounded Palestinians need treatment outside Gaza, according to the territory’s health ministry. In the past, those prioritized for evacuation have been mostly children, cancer patients and people suffering from physical trauma.
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 journalist Toqa Ezzidin in Cairo contributed to this report.
Find more of AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
