Israel will reopen Gaza’s Rafah crossing with Egypt only after completing an operation to locate and recover the body of the last remaining Israeli hostage believed to be in the enclave, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said late on Sunday (Jan 25).
The crossing was originally expected to reopen during the initial phase of a United States-backed ceasefire reached in October between Israel and Hamas, under a broader plan by US President Donald Trump to end the war. However, Israel later conditioned the reopening on the return of all living hostages held by Palestinian militant groups in Gaza, as well as what it described as a “100 per cent effort” by Hamas to locate and return the bodies of deceased hostages.
All hostages covered by the agreement have now been returned except for the remains of Israeli police officer Ran Gvili. The Israeli military said on Sunday it had launched a “targeted operation” in northern Gaza to retrieve his body. An Israeli military official added that there were “several intelligence leads” regarding Gvili’s possible location.
“The Israel Defense Forces are 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 once the operation is completed, “Israel will open the Rafah Crossing.”
On Thursday, Ali Shaath, head of a transitional Palestinian committee backed by the United States to temporarily administer Gaza, said the Rafah crossing was expected to open this week. Rafah is effectively the sole route in or out of Gaza for nearly all of the territory’s more than two million residents.
The Gaza side of the crossing has been under Israeli military control since 2024, following Israel’s ground operations in the southern part of the enclave.
“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.
Earlier this month, Washington announced that the plan had entered its second phase, under which Israel is expected to further withdraw its troops from Gaza, while Hamas is due to relinquish control of the territory’s administration.
Meanwhile, three sources told Reuters last week that Israel is seeking to restrict the number of Palestinians entering Gaza through Rafah, aiming to ensure that more people are allowed to leave the enclave than enter, amid ongoing security and humanitarian concerns.
