Israeli plan to establish a large camp in Rafah and expectations of opening the crossing on Thursday

Retired Israeli General Amir Avivi revealed that Israel has prepared land in the city of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, to establish a large camp for Palestinians, which may be equipped with surveillance and facial recognition technologies at its entrances. Sources said that the camp will be established in an area where tunnels have been destroyed, and that entry and exit operations will be subject to direct Israeli supervision. They added that the camp will be used to accommodate Palestinians wishing to leave Gaza towards Egypt, as well as those who prefer to remain within the Strip. Sources explained that the area has been almost empty of residents since the Israeli army took full control of it after the last ceasefire, expecting the camp to be large and capable of accommodating hundreds of thousands, with security verification procedures including facial recognition technologies. Reports indicated that Israel wants a larger number of Palestinians to leave compared to those allowed to return to the Strip. Although Defense Minister Yoav Gallant had spoken last July about directing the army to prepare for a similar camp in Rafah, the Israeli government has not issued any official comment on the project. For his part, the head of the media office in Gaza, Ismail Al-Thawabta, described the project as a "cover for forced displacement."

Opening of the Rafah crossing In this context, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel agreed to open the Rafah crossing for the passage of individuals only, when it accepted the twenty-point plan proposed by US President Donald Trump. Sources quoted an Israeli official and a Western diplomat as saying that Thursday is the earliest possible date for reopening the Rafah crossing, with the possibility of postponing the operation until early next week. The crossing will be managed - according to sources - by Palestinian teams not affiliated with the Palestinian Authority, and accompanied by observers from the European Union mission. The anticipated arrangements indicate that the crossing will be designated for the passage of civilians only, with Israeli inspection procedures including an additional checkpoint meters from the gate, in addition to security checks conducted by the Shin Bet for those leaving Gaza. The reopening of the crossing is considered one of the requirements of the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, and travel through it was supposed to begin immediately after the agreement was signed on October 10th last year. However, the occupation did not abide by this and linked its operation to the return of all the bodies of its prisoners in the Strip. The occupation army announced on Monday the recovery of the remains of the last Israeli prisoner in Gaza, an event that Netanyahu described as an "unprecedented achievement," while Hamas considered it a complete closure of the prisoner and body exchange track.