Israel says it has agreed to reopen the Gaza Strip’s key border crossing with Egypt only after an operation to retrieve the body of the last remaining Israeli hostage in the territory is complete.
The Rafah crossing has been mostly closed since May 2024, when the Palestinian side was seized by Israeli forces. It was meant to have reopened during the first stage of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which began in October.
However, the Israeli government has made that conditional on Hamas making every effort to return the body of the last hostage, police officer Master Sgt Ran Gvili.
On Sunday, Israel’s military said it had begun a new search for his remains in northern Gaza.
Although in its latest announcement Israel appears to offer a timeframe for the reopening of the crossing, it is not known how long the search for Gvili will take.
Israeli media quoted military officials as saying the operation was taking place at a cemetery in Gaza City and that it could last several days.
On Thursday, the head of the new technocratic Palestinian government in Gaza said the Rafah crossing would open “in both directions” this week.
It comes as US and other mediators continue to press both sides to take the next steps to advance President Donald Trump’s peace plan.
On Sunday night, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced that Israel had “agreed to a limited reopening of the Rafah crossing for pedestrian passage only, subject to a full Israeli inspection mechanism”.
Credit: bbc.com
