The Rafah crossing is Gaza's lifeline to the world and could open soon

CAIRO (AP) — Palestinians are eagerly awaiting the reopening of the Rafah border crossing, which is Gaza’s lifeline and only gateway to the outside world that wasn’t controlled by Israel before the war.

The opening is expected after Israel on Monday announced that the remains of the final hostage in Gaza, Ran Gvili, had been recovered. Hours earlier, Israel had said it would open the Rafah crossing with limitations once the search operation for Gvili was complete.

The opening of the crossing between Gaza and Egypt, which was controlled by Egypt before the war, is seen as ushering in the second phase of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire, though its opening had been called for as part of the first phase.

Here’s why the crossing is so vital.

It is not immediately clear when the crossing will open and whether it will allow the flow of goods and people both into and out of the war-shattered territory. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office late Sunday said Israel had agreed to a reopening “for pedestrian passage only, subject to a full Israeli inspection mechanism.”

Hamas in a statement Monday called on Israel to open the Rafah crossing in both directions “without restrictions.” Ali Shaath, head of the new Palestinian committee administering Gaza’s daily affairs, last week said the crossing would be opened this week to facilitate movement to and from the enclave.

A reopened Rafah crossing would make it easier for Gazans to seek medical treatment, travel internationally or visit family in Egypt, which is home to tens of thousands of Palestinians. It would also help Gaza’s devastated economy, as Palestinian-made olive oil and other products are widely sold in Egypt and throughout the Arab world.

“We hope this will close off Israel’s pretexts and open the crossing,” said Abdel-Rahman Radwan, a Gaza City resident whose mother is a cancer patient and requires treatment outside Gaza.

Israel also has said Palestinians wanting to leave Gaza will have to get Israeli and Egyptian security approval. Egypt says it wants the crossing immediately opened in both directions, so Palestinians in Egypt can enter Gaza. Egypt has been opposed to Palestinian refugees permanently resettling in that country.

With much of Gaza turned to rubble, the United Nations has said the territory’s population of over 2 million people needs a massive influx of fuel, food, medicine and tents. While some aid has entered via the crossing, trucks have been lined up outside it for months while waiting for the chance to enter.

“We’re trying to get clarity on what exactly the Rafah opening means, how it will be implemented,” U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said Monday, adding that "what we want to see is humanitarian goods going in, cargo going in, both from the humanitarian community and private cargo.”

Before the war, the Rafah crossing bustled with goods and people. Although Gaza has four other border crossings, they are shared with Israel and only Rafah links the territory with another neighboring country.

After Hamas-led militants sparked the war by attacking southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Egypt tightened its restrictions on traffic through the Rafah crossing. Israel took control of the Gaza side in May 2024 as part of its offensive and closed the crossing except to the occasional medical evacuation.

The Gaza side of the Rafah crossing was heavily damaged during the war. Once it does reopen, Israel has agreed to adhere to the humanitarian terms put in place for the previous ceasefire that took effect in January 2025, including allowing a certain number of truckloads of aid per day into Gaza.

With the current ceasefire deal calling for Hamas to have no role in running Gaza, it’s unclear who will operate the territory’s side of the Rafah crossing once the war ends.

The crossing also will be central to Gaza's reconstruction. Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and Middle East adviser Jared Kushner said postwar construction would first focus on building “workforce housing” in Rafah, the nearby southern city currently controlled by Israeli troops.

But Netanyahu on Monday told Israel's parliament, the Knesset: “We are at the start of the next (ceasefire) phase. What is the next phase? The next phase is disarming Hamas and demilitarizing the Gaza Strip. The next phase is not reconstruction.”

Meanwhile, humanitarian supplies inch forward. On Monday, the Egyptian Red Crescent facilitated the entry of a convoy carrying over 7,060 tons of food and medical aid through the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing en route to Israeli inspection at Kerem Shalom before it potentially heads into Gaza, according to Egypt’s State Information Service.

Associated Press reporters Samy Magdy in Cairo, Farnoush Amiri at the United Nations and Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report.

Find more of AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

Palestinian children receive donated food at a community kitchen in Nuseirat, in central Gaza Strip, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Judges at the International Criminal Court ruled on Monday that former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is fit to stand trial, after postponing an earlier hearing over concerns about the octogenarian’s health.

Duterte is facing charges of crimes against humanity for his alleged involvement in dozens of killings as part of his so-called war on drugs when in office, first as the mayor of a southern city and later as president.

Lawyers for the 80-year old had argued Duterte was in frail health and his condition was deteriorating in the court’s detention unit.

Duterte was arrested in March and was set to appear in court in The Hague in September. That hearing was delayed after a pretrial panel of judges granted “limited postponement” to give the court time to determine “whether Mr Duterte is fit to follow and participate” in the proceedings.

Following an assessment by a panel of medical experts, judges found that Duterte “is able effectively to exercise his procedural rights and is therefore fit to take part in the pre-trial proceedings.”

The hearing has now been reschedule for Feb. 23.

The panel included experts in geriatric neurology and psychiatry. According to court filings, Duterte underwent cognitive testing, as well as mental and physical examinations.

Duterte's lead lawyer, Nick Kaufman, said he was disappointed in the decision and would seek to appeal. The defense was “denied the opportunity to present its own medical evidence and to question, in court, the contradictory findings of professionals selected by the judges,” he said.

Rights groups and families of victims hailed Duterte’s arrest in March. Two organizations supporting the families of suspects killed in Duterte’s crackdown hailed the court’s decision as “a resounding victory for justice and accountability.”

In a joint statement, SENTRO and the CATW-AP said, “The ICC’s ruling reaffirms a simple but powerful truth: No one, not even a former head of state, is above the law.”

According to a filing last month, ICC prosecutors claim Duterte instructed and authorized “violent acts including murder to be committed against alleged criminals, including alleged drug dealers and users.”

Prosecutors announced in February 2018 that they would open a preliminary investigation into the so-called war on drugs overseen by Duterte when he served as mayor of the southern Philippine city of Davao and later as president.

In a move that human rights activists say was aimed at escaping accountability, Duterte, who was president at the time, announced a month later that the Philippines would leave the court.

Judges rejected a request from Duterte's legal team to throw out the case on the grounds that the court did not have jurisdiction because the Philippines had withdrawn from the court. Countries can’t “abuse” their right to withdraw from the Rome Statute “by shielding persons from justice in relation to alleged crimes that are already under consideration,” the September decision says.

Estimates of the death toll during Duterte’s presidential term vary, from the more than 6,000 that the national police have reported to up to 30,000 claimed by human rights groups.

FILE - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte addresses the troops during the 82nd anniversary celebration of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in suburban Quezon city northeast of Manila, Philippines on Dec. 20, 2017. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez, File)