It remains unknown today whether the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt will reopen, despite the fact that this is foreseen in the peace plan of Donald Trump and despite the appeals of UN agencies and other humanitarian organizations, such as the Red Cross or the Red Crescent.

Here are five facts about this strategically important access route for transporting humanitarian aid to Gaza, evacuating the wounded and rebuilding the Palestinian enclave.

Critical access point

This border crossing is located at the southern end of the Gaza Strip, on the border with Egypt, on the edge of the Sinai desert.

Access through Egypt is vital for international aid workers and for trucks carrying aid, food and, above all, fuel, which are essential for daily life in a region that lacks electricity.

The crossing has long been one of the main exit points for Gaza’s Palestinians, allowing them to exit the narrow strip of land, which has been under Israeli blockade since 2007.

From 2005 to 2007 it was the first Palestinian border crossing controlled by the Palestinian Authority, before it was reduced to one of the symbols of Hamas’ rule over the Gaza Strip.

Under Israeli control

On May 7, 2024, the Israeli military placed the Palestinian side of the crossing under its control, saying it was “used for terrorist purposes”, and there were serious suspicions that weapons were being trafficked through it. Then the passage was closed for everyone, including the UN.

For a short time the Rafah crossing was reopened during a previous cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, which came into effect on January 19, 2025. At that time, people who had obtained the relevant permit passed through Rafah, and then trucks.

Will it reopen soon?

Under pressure, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Shaar said last week that the Rafah crossing would be opened on Sunday. However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office eventually announced that it would remain closed “until further notice.”

The crossing is expected to be opened “only for the movement of people,” according to Cogat, the Israeli Defense Ministry agency that oversees civilian activities in the Palestinian Territories.

Trump’s peace plan provides in points 7 and 8 that humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip will be restored and that the Rafah crossing will be opened after a ceasefire is declared and Israeli hostages held by Hamas are released.

Since October 10, when the truce came into force, the Israeli authorities have been postponing the reopening of the Rafah crossing, citing firstly the failure of Hamas to hand over to Israel all the bodies of hostages it is holding and then the need to coordinate with Egypt on the matter, before finally resuming airstrikes in the Palestinian enclave yesterday Sunday.

Humanitarian aid

International aid reaches Gaza mainly through Egypt and the ports of Port Said and al-Arish, where hundreds of trucks full of humanitarian aid are currently waiting to cross into the Palestinian enclave.

According to drivers’ statements, once they pass the Rafah crossing point, the trucks head to the Israeli Kerem Shalom crossing, a few kilometers away.

There the drivers get out of their vehicles in order for them to be checked by the Israeli authorities. Products that are allowed to enter Gaza are then unloaded and transferred to other vehicles that are allowed to enter the enclave.

The other entrances

Although the Trump plan calls for 600 trucks a day to enter Gaza, Israel still allows humanitarian aid to enter in small quantities, three-quarters of it through the Kerem Shalom crossing and the rest through the Kisufim crossing (central east), according to the UN.

The Erez (or Beit Hanoun) crossing point, between the northern part of the enclave and southern Israel, was destroyed by Hamas gunmen during its unprecedented attack on October 7, 2023 against Israel. It reopened for a short time at the beginning of the year, but now remains closed, with no word on when it will reopen.

Other access roads to Gaza, such as Karni (northeast) or Sufa (south) have been operational in the past, but Israeli authorities have not mentioned them at length.