Rafah | Pakistan

Israel reopened the border between Gaza and Egypt on Monday for people on foot, a move that would allow Palestinians to leave the enclave and let back in those who want to return after fleeing Israel’s war in the enclave. The reopening of the Rafah border crossing will be limited, with Israel demanding security checks for Palestinians entering and exiting. Israel and Egypt were expected to impose caps on the number of travellers. Israel seized the border crossing in May 2024, about nine months into the Gaza war that was brought to a tenuous halt by an October ceasefire brokered by US President Donald Trump. Rafah’s reopening was an important requirement under the first phase of Trump’s broader plan to stop fighting between Israel and Hamas. An Israeli security official said that European monitoring teams had arrived at the crossing, which “has now opened to the movement of residents, for both entry and exit.” Foreign Journalist barred from Gaza In the first nine months of Israel’s assault in Gaza, launched af...

Israel said on Monday it would only allow pedestrians to travel through the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt as part of its “limited reopening” once it has recovered the remains of the last captive in the Palestinian territory. Reopening Rafah, a vital entry point for aid into Gaza, forms part of a truce framework announced by US President Donald Trump in October, but the crossing has remained closed since Israeli forces took control of it during the conflict in the besieged Palestinian territory. Visiting US envoys had reportedly pressed Israeli officials to reopen the crossing during talks in Jerusalem over the weekend. World leaders and aid agencies have repeatedly pushed for more humanitarian convoys to be able to access Gaza, which has been left devastated by more than two years of bombardment and depends on the inflow of essential medical equipment, food and other supplies. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Monday that Israel had agreed to a reopening “for pedestrian passage only, ...