Israel confirms Gaza’s Rafah Crossing will reopen Sunday to pedestrians in both directions

COGAT says exit and entry will require security clearance; IDF announces terror operatives killed in four separate incidents throughout enclave

Israel will reopen the Rafah Crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt for pedestrian traffic in both directions at the start of next week, in accordance with the ceasefire deal, the Defense Ministry announced on Friday.

“Exit from and entry into the Gaza Strip via the Rafah Crossing will be permitted in coordination with Egypt, following prior security clearance of individuals by Israel, and under the supervision of the European Union mission, similar to the mechanism implemented in January 2025,” the ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, or COGAT, said in a statement.

“The return of residents from Egypt to the Gaza Strip will be permitted, in coordination with Egypt, for residents who left Gaza during the course of the war only, and only after prior security clearance by Israel,” COGAT said. It added that in addition to initial identification and screening at the Rafah Crossing by the European Union mission, an additional screening and identification process will be conducted at a designated corridor, operated by the defense establishment in an area under IDF control.

According to data from COGAT, some 42,000 Gazans left the Strip during the war, the vast majority of them patients seeking medical treatment abroad or dual citizens.

This week, The Times of Israel reported that all Gazan Palestinians seeking to enter or leave the Strip will be required to have Egyptian approval, and Egypt was to send the names to Israel’s Shin Bet domestic security service for clearance.

Israeli officials said each name would be looked at individually, and if any top terror commanders seek to leave Gaza, they would be denied.

A team of Palestinian Authority representatives and monitors from the European Union stationed at the crossing will be tasked with conducting security screenings at the crossing for those leaving the Strip.

Israel will only supervise the exit of Gazans to Egypt remotely. From a control room, Israeli officers, using facial recognition software, will verify that those leaving the Strip are on the list of approved names, and open up a gate at the crossing to allow them through.

The entry into Gaza from Egypt will, however, include an Israeli security screening, as those Palestinians will arrive at an IDF checkpoint after passing through the Rafah Crossing. Only afterward will they be permitted to continue toward the Hamas-controlled areas of Gaza.

There are no plans to allow the crossing to be used for aid and goods, which go through other crossings where they are screened by Israel for contraband, especially weapons.

In the years before the war, Hamas used the Rafah Crossing to bring in numerous weapons and other supplies into the Strip for its military wing, without any Israeli oversight, according to the IDF and security officials.

The Israeli defense establishment is backing an idea for a tri-border crossing between Israel, Egypt and Gaza, where the current Kerem Shalom Crossing is located.

Under the current ceasefire deal, 600 trucks on average of aid and goods enter the Strip every day, though Israeli security officials have said that this is well beyond the needs of Gazan residents, and that Hamas is taking advantage of the oversupply to rebuild itself.

Israeli officials said that there is no real way to prevent the terror group from using the aid trucks for its own benefit, though more limited numbers of trucks — in line with what they say are the Strip’s actual needs — would be easier for Israel to monitor.

Attempts to smuggle contraband into Gaza using aid trucks are also expected to rise, security officials said, noting that Israel had so far mainly foiled attempts to bring in cigarettes and other tobacco products, as well as some prohibited agricultural products.

There has been no known attempt to smuggle weapons into Gaza using the aid trucks, according to Israeli security officials.

IDF kills terror operatives in 4 incidents

The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has remained fragile since its implementation in October.

The IDF on Friday announced four separate incidents in which Hamas terror operatives were killed over the past day.

On Thursday, the military said troops killed a Palestinian terror operative who crossed the Gaza ceasefire line in the Strip’s south. According to the IDF, the operative crossed the Yellow Line and approached troops of the 7th Armored Brigade “in a manner that posed an immediate threat.”

The troops then opened fire and “eliminated the terrorist to remove the threat,” the IDF said.

Since the start of the ceasefire in October 2025, the IDF has said it has killed dozens of terror operatives and other suspects who have crossed the Yellow Line — demarcating the military’s withdrawal in the Strip — and approached troops. Such incidents have taken place on a near-daily basis.

Palestinian reports have alleged that many civilians have been killed during that time as well.

Also on Thursday, the IDF confirmed carrying out an airstrike in the Maghazi camp area of central Gaza, saying it targeted a Hamas operative who planned to attack troops stationed in the Strip’s south.

The strike took place on the Hamas side of the ceasefire line, and according to Palestinian media, it killed at least two people.

According to the military, the operative was planning an imminent attack against troops in southern Gaza.

“The terrorist posed an immediate threat to IDF troops and was therefore targeted in a precise strike to remove the threat,” the army said, adding that it took steps to mitigate civilian harm in the strike, including by using a precision munition, aerial surveillance and other intelligence.

Meanwhile, overnight in eastern Rafah in southern Gaza, the Israeli Air Force struck a group of eight terror operatives who emerged from a tunnel.

Eastern Rafah is an area on the Israeli side of the ceasefire line where dozens of Hamas fighters were believed to be trapped underground. The IDF has reported killing or capturing more than 30 of them in recent months.

The military said soldiers of the 414th Combat Intelligence Collection Unit spotted the eight operatives emerging from a tunnel, and the Israeli Air Force then carried out a strike against them.

Three of the operatives were killed in the strike, the IDF said, and additional strikes were carried out in areas where the other five were believed to have fled to.

The military said one of the operatives was then captured — a “key commander” in Hamas’s East Rafah Battalion who it said was trying to “flee and hide.” Footage posted online purported to show that the commander was actually caught by members of the anti-Hamas Abu Shabab militia, which is based in the Rafah area. He was then reportedly handed over to the military.

The military said troops were continuing to scan the area for the other gunmen to “locate and eliminate” them.

Also overnight in central Gaza, the military said four armed terror operatives who approached troops were killed in an airstrike.

According to the IDF, troops of the Kfir Brigade stationed in the Strip’s center spotted the gunmen on the Israeli side of the Yellow Line. The operatives were approaching the forces “in a manner that posed an immediate threat,” the military said. The Israeli Air Force then struck “and eliminated the terrorists to remove the threat,” the IDF added.