US expects Rafah crossing reopening for both entry, exit of Gazans soon: Report

RAFAH – 1 January 2026: The US expects Israel to reopen the Rafah border crossing from the Palestinian side, allowing Gaza residents to leave for Egypt and return to the Strip, a US official told The Times of Israel this week.

The US administration expects Israel to reopen the crossing—closed since Israeli forces took control of the Gaza side in May 2024—within the coming days, according to the official.

President Donald Trump and his aides raised the issue of the crossing while hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the US on Monday.

The Rafah crossing has long been the only gateway for Gazans seeking to leave or enter the enclave, as movement through Israel’s Erez crossing has been limited to exceptional humanitarian cases.

The Rafah crossing was set to reopen under the terms of Trump’s Gaza peace plan, which established a ceasefire in October and included a prisoner exchange agreement between Hamas and Israel as part of its first phase.

 

In December, Israel said it would reopen the Rafah crossing in one direction “within a few days” to allow Palestinians to leave the enclave via Egypt, a move that was immediately rejected by Cairo.

Egypt viewed the move as part of Tel Aviv’s longstanding scheme to expel Gazans permanently from their territory and insisted that the crossing must reopen in both directions.