Gaza border crossing is preparing to reopen after years of near-complete closure

CAIRO (AP) — Gaza’s Rafah border crossing with Egypt showed signs of activity Sunday as Israel said that limited travel to and from the territory is set to resume after years of near-complete isolation. Reopening the border crossing is a key step as the Israel-Hamas ceasefire moves ahead.

Israel announced Sunday that the crossing has opened in a test. COGAT, the Israeli military agency that controls aid to Gaza, said in a statement that the crossing was actively being prepared for fuller operation, adding that residents of Gaza would begin to pass through the crossing once preparations were complete.

Palestinian security officers passed through the crossing's Egyptian gate and headed toward the Palestinian gate to join an EU mission that will be supervising exit and entry, said an Egyptian official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to talk to the media. Ambulances also crossed through the Egyptian gate, the official added.

The head of the new Palestinian administrative committee governing Gaza’s daily affairs has said travel in both directions would start Monday.

Rafah, which Palestinians see as their gateway to the world, has been largely shut since it was seized by Israel in May 2024.

Few people will be allowed at first, and no goods allowed to cross. About 20,000 Palestinian children and adults needing medical care are hoping to leave war-devastated Gaza via the crossing, and thousands of other Palestinians outside the territory hope to return home.

Zaher al-Wahidi, head of the Health Ministry’s documentation department in Gaza, told The Associated Press that the ministry hasn’t yet been notified about the start of medical evacuations.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel will allow 50 patients a day to leave. An official involved in the discussions, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the diplomatic talks, said each patient would be allowed to travel with two relatives, while some 50 people who left Gaza during the war would be allowed to return each day.

Israel has said it and Egypt will vet people for exit and entry through the crossing, which will be supervised by European Union border patrol agents. The number of travelers is expected to increase over time if the system is successful.

Israeli troops seized and closed the Rafah crossing in May 2024, calling it part of efforts to combat Hamas arms smuggling. The crossing was briefly opened for the evacuation of medical patients during a ceasefire in early 2025. Israel had resisted reopening the Rafah crossing, but the recovery of the remains of the last hostage in Gaza last week cleared the way to move forward.

The reopening is a key step as last year’s U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement, which took effect on Oct. 10, moves into its second phase.

Before the war, Rafah was the main crossing for people moving in and out of Gaza. Although Gaza has four other border crossings, they are shared with Israel. Under the ceasefire terms, Israel’s military controls the area between the Rafah crossing and the zone where most Palestinians live.

Fearing that Israeli could use the crossing to push Palestinians out of the enclave, Egypt has repeatedly said it must be open for both entry to and exit from Gaza. Historically, Israel and Egypt have vetted Palestinians applying to cross.

The current ceasefire halted more than two years of war between Israel and Hamas that began with a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. The truce’s first phase called for the exchange of all hostages held in Gaza for hundreds of Palestinians held by Israel, an increase in badly needed humanitarian aid and a partial pullback of Israeli troops.

The second phase is more complicated. It calls for installing a new Palestinian committee to govern Gaza, deploying an international security force, disarming Hamas, and taking steps to begin rebuilding.

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

Ambulances line up to enter the Egyptian gate of the Rafah crossing on the way to the Gaza Strip, in Rafah, Egypt, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohamed Arafat)

Ambulances line up to enter the Egyptian gate of the Rafah crossing on the way to the Gaza Strip, in Rafah, Egypt, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohamed Arafat)

A truck carrying humanitarian aids enters the Egyptian gate of the Rafah crossing, heading for inspection by Israeli authorities before entering the Gaza Strip, in Rafah, Egypt, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohamed Arafat)

A crane enters the Egyptian gate of the Rafah crossing to the Gaza Strip, in Rafah, Egypt, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohamed Arafat)

Trucks carrying humanitarian aids line up to enter the Egyptian gate of the Rafah crossing, heading for inspection by Israeli authorities before entering the Gaza Strip, in Rafah, Egypt, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohamed Arafat)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran's supreme leader warned Sunday that any attack by the United States would spark a “regional war” in the Mideast, further escalating tensions as President Donald Trump has threatened to militarily strike the Islamic Republic.

The comments from the 86-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei are the most-direct threat he’s made so far as the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and associated American warships are in the Arabian Sea, sent by Trump there after Tehran's bloody crackdown on nationwide protests.

It remains unclear whether Trump will use force. He's repeatedly said Iran wants to negotiate and has brought up Tehran's nuclear program as another issue he wants to see resolved.

But Khamenei also referred to the nationwide protests as “a coup,” hardening the government's position as tens of thousands of people reportedly have been detained since the start of the demonstrations. Seditious charges in Iran can carry the death penalty, which again renews concerns about Tehran carrying out mass executions for those arrested — a red line for Trump.

Iran had also planned a live-fire military drill for Sunday and Monday in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all oil traded passes. The U.S. military's Central Command had warned against threatening American warships or aircraft during the drill or disrupting commercial traffic.

Iranian state television reported Khamenei's comments online before airing any footage of his remarks.

“The Americans should know that if they start a war, this time it will be a regional war," Khamenei was quoted as saying.

It added that Khamenei said: “We are not the instigators and we do not seek to attack any country. But the Iranian nation will deliver a firm blow to anyone who attacks or harasses it.”

Khamenei also hardened his position on the demonstrations after earlier acknowledging some people had legitimate economic grievances that sparked their protests. The demonstrations began Dec. 28, initially over the collapse of Iran's rial currency. It soon grew into a direct challenge to Khamenei's rule.

“The recent sedition was similar to a coup. Of course, the coup was suppressed," he said. “Their goal was to destroy sensitive and effective centers involved in running the country, and for this reason they attacked the police, government centers, (Revolutionary Guard) facilities, banks and mosques — and burned copies of the Quran. They targeted centers that run the country.”

The speaker of Iran's parliament, meanwhile, said that the Islamic Republic now considers all European Union militaries to be terrorist groups, lashing out after the bloc declared the country's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard a terror group over its bloody crackdown on nationwide protests.

Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, a former Guard commander, announced the terror designation, which will likely be mostly symbolic. Iran has used a 2019 law to reciprocally declare other nations' militaries terror groups following the United States declaration of the Guard a terror group that year.

Qalibaf made the announcement as he and others in parliament wore Guard uniforms in support of the force. The Guard, which also controls Iran's ballistic missile arsenal and has vast economic interests in Iran, answers only to Iran's 86-year-old Khamenei.

“By seeking to strike at the (Guard), which itself has been the greatest barrier to the spread of terrorism to Europe, Europeans have in fact shot themselves in the foot and, once again, through blind obedience to the Americans, decided against the interests of their own people," Qalibaf said.

Lawmakers at the session later chanted: “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!” at the session.

Trump has laid out two red lines for military action: the killing of peaceful protesters or the possible mass execution of those detained in a major crackdown over the demonstrations. He's increasingly begun discussing Iran's nuclear program as well, which the U.S. negotiated over with Tehran in multiple sessions before Israel launched a 12-day war with Iran back in June.

The U.S. bombed three Iranian nuclear sites during the war. Activity at two of the sites suggests Iran may be trying to obscure the view of satellites as it tries to salvage what remains there.

Trump on Saturday night declined to say whether he’d made a decision on what he wanted to do regarding Iran.

Speaking to reporters as he flew to Florida, Trump sidestepped a question about whether Tehran would be emboldened if the U.S. backed away from launching strikes on Iran, saying, “Some people think that. Some people don’t.”

Trump said Iran should negotiate a “satisfactory” deal to prevent the Middle Eastern country from getting any nuclear weapons, but said, “I don’t know that they will. But they are talking to us. Seriously talking to us.”

Ali Larijani, a top security official in Iran, wrote on X late Saturday that “structural arrangements for negotiations are progressing.” However, there is no public sign of any direct talks with the United States, something Khamenei has repeatedly ruled out.

Associated Press writer Will Weissert aboard Air Force One contributed to this report.

People walk through the Tajrish bazaar market in northern Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

This handout image from the U.S. Navy shows an EA-18G Growler landing on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Indian Ocean on Jan. 23, 2026. (Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Daniel Kimmelman/U.S. Navy via AP)

A woman walks through the Shiite Saints Abdulazim and Taher shrine in Shahr-e-Ray, south of Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)