Naif Zaidani & Sarah Khalil
The New Arab / January 23, 2026
As Rafah prepares to reopen, Palestinians face continued Israeli control, strict limits on movement, and deep uncertainty over who will be allowed to cross.
Plans to reopen the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt have moved closer to implementation, with Palestinian and international officials confirming that the crossing is set to reopen in both directions next week, following months of closure that have kept Gaza’s population under siege.
Ali Shaath, the newly appointed administrator of Gaza and head of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, announced the planned reopening on Thursday during the launch of US President Donald Trump’s so-called “Board of Peace” at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
“I am pleased to announce the Rafah crossing will open next week in both directions,” Shaath said. “For Palestinians in Gaza, Rafah is more than a gate. It is a lifeline and a symbol of opportunity. Opening Rafah signals that Gaza is no longer closed to the future and the world.”
This forms part of the truce framework announced by US President Donald Trump in October. However, Rafah has remained closed despite multiple ceasefire agreements in 2025, including those reached in January and October, amid continued Israeli military operations and disputes over control of the crossing.
Israel has not formally confirmed the reopening date.
Following Shaath’s announcement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to convene the security cabinet on Sunday to discuss the issue.
A source close to Netanyahu said Israel had treated the crossing as leverage to pressure Hamas over the return of the remains of Ran Gvili, whose body was taken into Gaza on 7 October 2023.
However, following the public commitments made in Davos, it remains unclear whether the cabinet would seek to openly challenge US President Donald Trump’s policy or risk a public rift with Washington.
How Rafah is expected to operate
Israeli media reports indicate that the operational framework for reopening Rafah has already been finalised.
According to Israel’s Channel 11, the crossing could open within 48 hours of approval. It is expected to be operated by the European Union Border Assistance Mission alongside personnel from the Palestinian Authority’s General Intelligence Service, replicating arrangements used during previous ceasefires.
Despite the formal reopening of the Egypt-Gaza crossing, Israel is expected to retain effective control over movement between the two border points.
Under the reported framework, lists of Palestinians seeking to enter Gaza would be transferred from the EU mission to Israel in advance, where they would be vetted by Israeli security services.
Oversight would include remote monitoring, facial recognition checks, identity verification, X-ray screening and security inspections.
Israeli forces would not be stationed inside the crossing but would remain deployed nearby.
Israeli outlets have reported the establishment of a separate inspection point close to Rafah, referred to in Israeli media as “Rafah 2”, where Palestinians entering Gaza would be checked under the pretext of “preventing smuggling”.
There are no confirmed details on how Rafah will operate or how many Palestinians will be permitted to cross. However, sources cited by Reuters have said Israel intends to restrict the number of Palestinians entering Gaza through Rafah, to allow more people to leave than return.
The sources said it remains unclear how Israel would enforce such limits or what ratio of exits to entries it is seeking amid Palestinian fears that movement through the crossing could be used to encourage permanent displacement.
Israel’s ‘failed’ one-way plan
The current arrangements follow widespread regional backlash to an earlier Israeli proposal to reopen Rafah on a one-way basis only, allowing Palestinians to leave Gaza while barring their return.
That plan, floated in late 2025 and coordinated with Egypt under Israeli security oversight, was rejected outright by Cairo and condemned across the Arab and Muslim world.
Egypt, Qatar, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and other states warned that Israel’s one-way proposal had violated ceasefire agreements and Trump’s 20-point Gaza plan, and amounted to an attempt to forcibly and permanently expel Palestinians from Gaza.
The prospect of reopening Rafah has triggered political and media backlash inside Israel.
Far-right opposition leader Avigdor Lieberman described the move as “surrender”, accusing the government of capitulating to Palestinians.
Meanwhile, former UN envoy Nikolay Mladenov, now serving as the Board of Peace’s representative for Gaza, confirmed an agreement had been reached on reopening Rafah and thanked the United States, Israel, Egypt and Palestinian officials for coordinating the process.
He said logistical arrangements were underway to implement the agreement.
Shaath said the reopening would allow officials from the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza to enter the territory and begin work on reconstruction and day-to-day governance after more than two years of war.
Naif Zaidani – reporter in Haifa
Sarah Khalil – news editor and senior journalist at The New Arab
