Israel will reopen Gaza’s Rafah crossing with Egypt for the passage of people only after completing an operation to locate the body of the last remaining Israeli hostage in the territory, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said late on Sunday.
The border was supposed to have opened during the initial phase of U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to end the war, under a ceasefire reached in October between Israel and Hamas.
However, Israel conditioned the reopening on the return of all living hostages held by Palestinian militant factions in Gaza, as well as a "100% effort" by Hamas to locate and return the bodies of all deceased hostages.
All have been returned except for the body of police officer Ran Gvili. The Israeli military said on Sunday it had launched a "targeted operation" in northern Gaza to retrieve his remains, while an Israeli military official said there were "several intelligence leads" regarding his possible location.
The Israeli military "is currently conducting a focused operation to exhaust all of the intelligence that has been gathered in the effort to locate and return the fallen hostage, Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, of blessed memory," Netanyahu's office said in a statement.
It added that when the operation is complete, "Israel will open the Rafah Crossing."
On Thursday, Ali Shaath, head of a transitional Palestinian committee backed by the U.S. to temporarily administer Gaza, said the Rafah Crossing would open this week. It is effectively the sole route in or out of Gaza for nearly all of the more than 2 million people who live there.
The Gaza side of the crossing has been under Israeli military control since 2024.
"As part of President Trump's 20-point plan, Israel has agreed to a limited reopening of the Rafah Crossing for pedestrian passage only, subject to a full Israeli inspection mechanism," Netanyahu's office said.
This month, Washington announced the plan had moved into the second phase, under which Israel is expected to withdraw troops further from Gaza and Hamas is due to yield control of the territory's administration.
Syria says it assured Israel that Türkiye had no plans to establish a military presence at the Abu al-Duhur airbase before Israeli forces stru...
Fuel restrictions have returned to parts of Moscow and the surrounding region, adding another strain to Russia&...
Russian ballistic missile strikes on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv has killed at least sixteen people and injured more than forty oth...
The collective-defence agreement between Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signals that regional powers no longer want to rely solely on external security guarantees. Whether it becomes a stabilising deterrent or another axis of rivalry remains unresolved.
Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has slowed, according to the latest data, as uncertainty over the waterway’s reopening kept most shipowners away. Six commodity vessels crossed the strait on Tuesday, down from nine the day before and below the 10-day daily average of 11.
Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains limited on Thursday, with no increase in vessel crossings as U.S.-Iran talks to resolve the conflict remained stalled. Nine commodity vessels transited the key waterway on Wednesday, unchanged from the previous day, according to Kpler data.
Iran has said the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the U.S. fulfils the terms of an interim deal, including lifting the maritime blockade and sanctions and releasing Iran’s frozen assets.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top news stories for the 19th of August, covering the latest developments.
Syria says it assured Israel that Türkiye had no plans to establish a military presence at the Abu al-Duhur airbase before Israeli forces struck the site on Tuesday.
Azerbaijan’s support for Ukraine could provide a model for neighbouring countries seeking to strengthen their sovereignty, the director of development at an organisation supporting Ukraine’s armed forces has told AnewZ.
Two days inside Uzbekistan’s newsrooms, hospitals, factories and technology hubs reveal a country eager to show how it is changing — while that transformation is still under way.
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani arrived in Islamabad on Wednesday for a two-day visit, marking the first trip by Syria’s top diplomat to Pakistan in 19 years as Damascus seeks to deepen ties with the country.
More than a year after Pakistan and India were involved in their most serious military confrontation in decades, a key airspace restriction between the nuclear-armed neighbours remains in force.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment