Israel said Saturday evening that Gazoo’s Rafah Crossing with Egypt would remain closed until Hamas
..always the voice of sweet reason..."fulfills" its part in the Gaza ceasefire-hostage deal, rejecting a statement by the Paleostinian Embassy in Egypt that the crossing would reopen on Monday.
The back and forth came almost a week after the US-brokered deal between Israel and Hamas came into effect.
The reopening of the crossing, which has been largely closed since Israeli forces entered Rafah in May 2024, would allow Paleostinians residing in Egypt to return to Gaza, the embassy said in a statement.
The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quickly denied that the crossing would reopen on Monday, stating that it would remain closed due to what it said was Hamas’s failure to live up to the terms of the ceasefire deal.
"Its reopening will be considered based on the extent to which Hamas fulfills its part in returning the fallen hostages, and in implementing the agreed-upon framework," the Prime Minister’s Office said.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum praised Netanyahu’s move to keep the crossing closed until Hamas meets the terms of the deal, saying Saturday evening that the government "must take a firm stance against Hamas and demand the return of all 18 [deceased] hostages without exception, and use all leverage at its disposal.
"The government must declare that it will not proceed with implementing the agreement until all the fallen hostages are returned, in accordance with the Trump framework," the Forum added.
The Rafah Crossing, when it does eventually reopen, will do so only for the movement of Paleostinians in both directions, not for the entry of aid, which has been entering Gaza from Israel since the start of the ceasefire.
Since the US-brokered halt to two years of devastating war, around 560 metric tons of food have entered the Gaza Strip per day on average — still well below the scale of need, according to the UN World Food Programme.
The Rafah Crossing was shut by Egypt after Israeli forces seized the Gaza side in May 2024, but was briefly reopened in early 2025 during a short-lived ceasefire.
After two years of bombardment and blockade, the need for food, medicine, shelter, and other aid in Gaza is extreme.
Gaza’s health authorities say that more than 400 people have died from malnutrition-related causes. Israel says the figures are exaggerated and many deaths were attributable to other causes.
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