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.
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Here's your AnewZ Daily Brief for 28 September 2026. These are the top stories making headlines in technology.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan has arrived in Washington for talks with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on bilateral ties and key regional and international developments, Saudi state news agency SPA reported.
The European Union's decision to simultaneously advance accession talks with Ukraine, Moldova, Montenegro and Albania marks its most ambitious enlargement effort in more than two decades.
U.S. President Donald Trump has denied reports that he offered Iran sanctions relief and access to frozen funds in exchange for nuclear concessions.
Kazakhstan and Germany have agreed to expand cooperation in critical minerals, industry, energy and transport, with Astana seeking a greater German role in developing supply chains and higher-value production.
Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom has proposed building a new 1,000-megawatt nuclear power unit in Armenia as Yerevan weighs competing international offers, its head Alexey Likhachev said on Tuesday.
Freight on the Baku–Tbilisi–Kars railway could soon move faster across borders after Georgia, Azerbaijan and Türkiye signed a new customs protocol aimed at cutting delays and streamlining transit.
Afghanistan and Belarus have agreed to expand health cooperation, with a focus on medicines, medical equipment and training healthcare workers, following talks between the two countries’ health ministers in Minsk on Tuesday (29 September).
Saudi Arabia is facing a widening security challenge from Yemen as Houthi forces consolidate recent territorial gains along the Red Sea coast and step up attacks on the kingdom.
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