People stand in front of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing during the first hours of a four-day truce in the battles between Israel and Hamas militants, on November 24, 2023. SAID KHATIB / AFP
Israel said on Wednesday, December 3, it would open the Rafah crossing from Gaza to Egypt to allow residents to exit the Palestinian territory "in the coming days."
"In accordance with the ceasefire agreement... the Rafah Crossing will open in the coming days exclusively for the exit of residents from the Gaza Strip to Egypt," COGAT, the Israeli defense ministry body that oversees civil affairs in the Palestinian territories, said in a statement.
COGAT added that the crossing would operate under the supervision of the EU's Border Assistance Mission, "similar to the mechanism that operated in January 2025," when the crossing was briefly opened during a six-week truce.
Two European diplomatic sources told Agence France-Presse that they had initially been preparing for the pedestrian crossing's opening on October 14 after a similar announcement, before the opening was delayed.
