Israel: Gaza crossing to open but only for Palestinians to leave

by · UPI

Dec. 3 (UPI) -- Israel said it plans to open the Rafah crossing to allow Palestinians to leave from Gaza to Egypt.

Israel's Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories said exits would be "facilitated through coordination with Egypt, following security approval by Israel and under the supervision of the European Union mission." It said this would be "similar to the mechanism that operated in January," when the crossing opened during a cease-fire, the BBC reported.

COGAT said the crossing would open only one way, allowing Palestinians to leave Gaza but not to return, and that it would be overseen in part by the European Union, working with Egypt and Israel.

But the Egyptian government on Wednesday denied it was coordinating with Israel to reopen the Rafah crossing. The country's state information service said that the cease-fire signed in October said the Rafah crossing must be open both ways. There are tens of thousands of Gazan refugees in Egypt.

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Though the two sides agreed to those terms, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said later that the Rafah crossing would stay closed until further notice, The New York Times reported.

Israel spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian said Wednesday that the opening depends on Hamas returning the last two bodies of hostages still missing in Gaza. Hamas did return one body on Wednesday morning.

Wednesday afternoon, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a Hamas ally, said it had found the body of another hostage in northern Gaza. Hamas said it will send the body to Israel through the Red Cross.

"If an agreement is reached to open the crossing, it will be in both directions, to enter and exit the Gaza Strip, in accordance with the plan of U.S. President Donald Trump," an Egyptian official source told the country's state information service.

Israel invaded Rafah in May 2024 and closed the crossing. Israel and Egypt couldn't agree on how to open the border crossing, which left some sick and wounded Palestinians stuck in Gaza without medical care.

Displaced Palestinians return to Gaza

Thousands of displaced Palestinians walk along the Rashid coastal road toward Gaza City on October 10, 2025, after the implementation of a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas. Photo by Hassan Al-Jadi/UPI | License Photo