Egypt warns: Israel unilateral opening of Rafah crossing breaches peace treaty

Egypt has warned that Israel’s unilateral announcement that it will open the Rafah crossing only for the exit of Gaza residents constitutes a breach of the peace treaty between the two countries, according to senior Egyptian officials.

The tensions erupted after Israel’s Channel 12 reported that, “in accordance with the ceasefire agreement and directives from the political leadership, the Rafah crossing will be opened in the coming days for the exit of Gaza residents only.”

The Egyptian Media Office swiftly rejected the announcement, saying it had not agreed to such an arrangement. “If there is an agreement, the crossing will open in both directions,” it said, stressing that any unilateral move would violate existing agreements.

An unnamed Israeli official responded dismissively, telling Channel 12: “If the Egyptians don’t want to accommodate them, that’s their problem.”

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Under the ceasefire agreement signed between Israel and Hamas in early October, the Rafah crossing was expected to reopen fully. However, Israel has refused to do so, claiming Hamas has yet to fulfil all obligations under the first phase of the arrangement. Israel has stated that the crossing will not open for two-way movement until Hamas returns all of its fighters killed in action.

Egypt, meanwhile, continues its efforts to push the agreement into its second phase. This stage includes reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, which is expected to involve large-scale projects and significant contracts for Egyptian companies. As part of its preparations, Cairo is currently training Palestinian police forces who would operate in a post-war administrative framework.

Egyptian officials stressed that Cairo will not allow itself to appear complicit in any scenario that facilitates the displacement of Gaza’s population, which they say risks aligning Egypt with what they describe as Trump’s “immigration plan” for Palestinians.

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