Tel Aviv, Israel – Israel says it will allow a limited reopening of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt once the remains of the last fallen Israeli hostage are recovered.
The announcement was made Sunday by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.
In a social media post on Sunday, the office said the reopening is conditional on Hamas having returned all living hostages and making what it described as a 100% effort to locate and return the bodies of all deceased captives.
Rafah is Gaza’s only crossing with Egypt and the primary exit point for civilians following two years of war.
It is also a key route for humanitarian access.
However, Tel Aviv said the reopening of Rafah would be restricted to the passage of people only, and would operate under a full Israeli inspection mechanism.
More than two million Palestinians depend on the crossing for their return in Gaza.
Under the October 2025 ceasefire—part of the still-unfinished First Phase of the U.S.-backed peace plan—the Rafah Crossing was expected to reopen.
However, it has remained largely closed and is currently under Israeli military control because their government claimed that Hamas is failing to return all the deceased captives.
At this point, only one deceased hostage remains unaccounted for.
The Israeli Defense Forces are now conducting a focused military operation to exhaust all intelligence leads to locate and recover the final remains.
The last fallen hostage, a police officer, is believed to be buried in a cemetery in northern Gaza.
If the operation is completed, the Rafah Crossing could reopen later this week, according to multiple reports.
Meanwhile, the United States has formally signed the charter of the international “Board of Peace,” with top leaders from around the world last week.
The board is part of Phase Two of the ceasefire framework and is tasked with overseeing Gaza’s reconstruction.