Israel will reopen the Rafah crossing “in the coming days”on the Gaza Strip border with Egypt, as reported on Wednesday by the Coordinator of Israeli Government Activities in the Palestinian Territories (COGAT, for its acronym in English). As the organization explained in a statement on the social networking site but, The border crossing will be opened “exclusively” for residents to leave From Gaza to Egypt. That is, leaving Gaza in one direction without opening an entry route into the Strip.
According to what was reported by the Office for the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories. The departure of these residents “will be facilitated through coordination with Egypt.” The statement explained that the European Union will participate in supervising the process in a manner “similar to the mechanism that was activated in January 2025.” The Israeli authorities did not provide further details about opening the crossing, although… The truce agreement included the possibility of opening the crossing in both directions And also allowing the return of Palestinians to Gaza, an issue that, according to a statement by the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, does not arise on this occasion.
But the Egyptian authorities denied in a statement that the Egyptian forces were coordinating with Israel to open the Rafah crossing, and explained that if an agreement was reached to open the border crossing, it must take place “both in and out,” as stipulated in the peace plan promoted by the United States.
Four soldiers were injured in a clash with gunmen in Rafah
In Rafah specifically, an incident occurred on Wednesday between Palestinian militia members and Israeli soldiers Four members of the Hebrew forces were wounded. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held an emergency meeting with his government after learning of the incident.
In a statement issued by his office, Netanyahu stressed that Israeli policy is clear: “Israel will not tolerate attacks against Israeli soldiers and will respond accordingly.”He warned that Hamas “continues to violate the ceasefire agreement” by carrying out “terrorist acts” against its forces.
The incident occurred, according to the army’s account, when troops in Rafah, an area under full Israeli control, encountered “several terrorists emerging from a clandestine terrorist infrastructure,” triggering the outbreak of fighting. In the confrontation, An Israeli soldier was seriously injured Three others, including a non-commissioned officer, were moderately injured.
The situation in Rafah has been particularly sensitive since then Dozens of Hamas fighters remain holed up – Although Israel estimates this number to be in the hundreds – in the tunnels, which leads to this type of accident.
So far, Netanyahu’s government has maintained that its position toward the militiamen trapped in the border city with Egypt is to “arrest or eliminate them” unless they surrender and hand over their weapons. But Hamas warned that its fighters would not surrender and asked the mediators to find a solution so that these militants could move to areas outside the “yellow line,” which is the point to which Israeli forces retreated.