Rafah Crossing: Netanyahu Maneuvers to Buy Time Before Opening Under US Pressure

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears to be maneuvering to buy more time before reopening the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, amid increasing US pressure. While the US administration is pushing for the reopening, Netanyahu is trying to provide justifications to prevent its reopening, given opposition from right-wing ministers to the move. As a compromise to satisfy both parties, Netanyahu decided to open the crossing but linked its implementation to the results of a search operation by the Israeli army in northern Gaza for the remains of captive Ran Guily. This explains the ambiguous wording of the statement issued by Netanyahu's office late Sunday night, which said: "As part of US President Donald Trump's 20-point plan, Israel has agreed to a partial reopening of the Rafah crossing for pedestrians only, subject to a full Israeli inspection mechanism." However, it added: "The Israeli army is currently conducting a focused operation to exhaust all intelligence gathered in order to find and retrieve the remains of hostage Sergeant First Class Guily." It continued: "Once this operation is concluded, and in accordance with what was agreed upon with the United States, Israel will open the Rafah crossing," without specifying a timeframe for its completion or indicating its potential outcomes.

The "Al-Qassam Brigades," the military wing of the "Hamas" movement, announced on Sunday that it had informed mediators of all available details regarding the location of the body of the last Israeli captive in the Gaza Strip. It indicated that the Israeli army is conducting search operations in one of the locations based on that information. Since the start of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, which has been in effect since October 10th last year, Palestinian factions have handed over 20 living Israeli captives and the remains of 27 others, while the remains of Guily remain, for whom "Al-Qassam" confirmed efforts are being made to search despite difficult conditions and lack of resources. In mid-January, Trump announced the start of the second phase of the Gaza agreement, as part of his 20-point plan to end the war in the Strip, which was adopted by the UN Security Council in its Resolution 2803 issued on November 17, 2025.

**Israeli Evasion

Netanyahu's office statement was issued after a meeting of the Ministerial Committee for National Security ("the Cabinet"), which discussed the implementation of the second phase of Trump's plan to end the war and open the crossing. Trump's plan stipulated the reopening of the crossing in the first phase of the agreement, but Israel did not adhere to this, reneging on a number of agreement clauses, including the cessation of hostilities and the entry of agreed-upon quantities of aid.

Israeli military sources said on Monday: "The crossing will not open with the return of Ran Guily, but after the ongoing military operation in the Shuja'iyya cemetery concludes. In other words, it doesn't matter if the operation yields a positive result or not, the crossing will open anyway." They added: "Let's remember that this operation has been postponed several times due to the political leadership's disapproval. Is it conceivable that someone waited and linked it to the current Rafah crossing opening date to mitigate public criticism?" referring to Netanyahu. The sources pointed to what was stated in Netanyahu's office statement: "Israel conditioned the reopening of the crossing on the return of all living hostages, and Hamas doing its utmost to find and return all dead hostages." They questioned: "In other words, if Israel allows the opening of the Rafah crossing, it is officially confirming that Hamas (did its utmost) to return all dead hostages! What an exaggerated Israeli compliment to Hamas."

**Crossing Mechanism

Military sources reported expectations of the reopening of the Palestinian side of the crossing in the coming days. Regarding its operating mechanism, the sources said: "Exiting Gaza to Egypt will not be subject to Israeli security inspection. Inspections and identity verification will be carried out by a European Union mission, with the participation of Gazan citizens approved by the security establishment and working on behalf of the Palestinian Authority." They continued: "The exit stamp will also be from the Palestinian Authority. While Israeli control over exits will only be remote." As for entering the Gaza Strip from Egyptian territory, the sources said that security inspection will be in two stages: "The first by the European Union mission at the Rafah crossing." They added: "After that, those entering will be transferred to the Gaza Strip via a special corridor established in Israeli-controlled territory, and they will be inspected there by Israeli security officials. This procedure aims to prevent smuggling and the entry of unauthorized persons." The sources indicated that "the final number of people entering and exiting has not been determined. The number is expected to reach a few hundred daily, depending on the capacity of the crossing and inspection procedures."

**"Buying Time"

For its part, the Israeli news website "Walla" interpreted Netanyahu's office statement as "buying time and neutralizing, or at least attempting to mitigate (the intensity of) opposition." It said: "It became clearer that this was a move whose main goal was to buy time, and not for long." It added regarding Netanyahu's office statement: "The announcement, phrased in vague language, did not clarify what exhausting the procedures means, what the timeline is, and what will be considered the completion of the effort. More importantly, it did not change the fundamental truth: no decision was made in the Cabinet. This step was not approved, withheld, or postponed. It was simply bypassed." The website claimed that "information regarding Guily's whereabouts has been in Israel's possession for about a month, as is known to the defense establishment and political elements." In this regard, the website referred to Trump's statements last week in which he said "that the Americans know his (Guily's) location. So, the operation (to search for his remains) was not born at the last minute. Rather, it had been forming for a long time and was announced at a remarkably precise time," referring to the issuance of Netanyahu's office statement after the Al-Qassam spokesman's statement about the army's search operations. It added: "This move by Netanyahu gives him some breathing room, for a few hours, and perhaps for days." It indicated that according to senior American officials, the Israeli message "is completely different: the Rafah crossing will be open by the end of the week, whether Guily is found or not. This step, from Washington's perspective, is irreversible," according to the website. It continued: "Internally, it is a conditional and vague Israeli announcement. Outwardly, it is a clear response to American pressure. Netanyahu seems not to have decided between the right wing and Washington, but rather bought himself temporary room for maneuver."

**Ministers' Opposition

For its part, the official broadcasting authority said on Monday: "A number of ministers expressed their prior opposition to opening the crossing, considering that the step paves the way for moving to the second phase of President Trump's plan." It quoted National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir as saying in a Cabinet meeting that "opening the crossing is a big mistake and a very bad message." On Thursday, the head of the National Administration Committee for the Gaza Strip, Ali Shaath, said that the Rafah crossing would be opened next week, without clarifying the mechanism to be adopted. Israel has closed this crossing since it took control of it in May 2024, and destroyed and burned its buildings during a ground operation launched in the city of Rafah (south) as part of the genocide war that Tel Aviv began on October 8, 2023, and lasted for two years, leaving more than 71,000 dead and over 171,000 injured Palestinians, and destruction affecting 90 percent of the infrastructure in the Strip.