FILE- Fuel tankers wait to cross from the Egyptian side of Rafah en rounte to the Karem Abu Salem crossing into the Gaza Strip. AFP
According to the source, the personnel will include members of the Presidential Guard, intelligence officers, and logistical support staff.
They will be stationed at Rafah in civilian clothes and will operate under the mechanisms of the 2005 crossing agreement, which involves remote monitoring by European and Israeli security authorities.
The source said the Palestinian Authority’s role in the initial phase will be limited to managing the crossing with Egypt, with the Rafah crossing expected to reopen in both directions in mid-January.
Meanwhile, Israel’s Channel 12 reported that Israeli security services are awaiting political instructions to reopen the crossing in both directions in the coming days.
The channel said inspections at Rafah will be conducted electronically, with no Israeli personnel physically present. It added that goods will continue to enter Gaza through the Karem Abu Salem crossing, not Rafah.
According to the report, Israel plans to establish a monitoring point on the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing to track the movement of people and goods into and out of Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to hold security consultations on Sunday, during which he is expected to present issues discussed in his meeting with US President Donald Trump. The reopening of the Rafah crossing is expected to be a key topic.
Earlier, Israel’s Kan public broadcaster reported that Israel was preparing to reopen the crossing between Gaza and Egypt following Netanyahu’s return from the United States.
The report said US pressure to reopen the crossing has intensified in recent days, coinciding with Netanyahu’s meetings in Washington.
The crossing was originally scheduled to reopen in October 2025 as part of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement. However, Israel did not comply, under the pretext of demanding the release of all Israeli captives' bodies still held in Gaza.
Egypt has repeatedly rejected reopening the Rafah crossing in only one direction, stressing that any agreement must allow movement both ways, in line with US President Donald Trump’s peace plan.
Israel fully closed the Rafah crossing after taking control of the city on 6 May 2024, during which the crossing’s facilities were destroyed and burned.
In a related development, a high-level Palestinian delegation led by Palestinian Authority Deputy Prime Minister Hussein Al-Sheikh arrived in Cairo on Sunday to discuss issues linked to the implementation of the second phase of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan, as well as security and economic conditions in the occupied West Bank, a diplomatic source told Ahram Online.
These diplomatic efforts come as the humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to deteriorate. Israel’s ongoing restrictions on aid deliveries into the territory remain in violation of the ceasefire agreement. Israel has also announced a ban on 37 humanitarian organizations from operating in Gaza, citing their refusal to provide information on their Palestinian staff.
On Tuesday, the foreign ministers of 10 countries voiced “serious concerns” over the “renewed deterioration of the humanitarian situation” in Gaza, describing it as “catastrophic.”
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