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Rafah Border Crossing
The Rafah Border Crossing (Arabic: معبر رفح, romanized: Ma`bar Rafaḥ) or Rafah Crossing Point is the sole crossing point between Egypt and Palestine's Gaza Strip and Gaza's sole border point with a country other than Israel.
The Rafah crossing was opened by Israel after the 1979 peace treaty and remained under Israeli control until 2005, when it was transferred to Egyptian, Palestinian Authority, and EU control, giving Palestinians partial control of an international border for the first time. In 2007, after Hamas seized Gaza, the EU withdrew, and Israel imposed a complete blockade, effectively sealing Gaza. In the same year, Egypt closed the Rafah crossing. Since then, the Rafah crossing has only opened intermittently for Palestinian movement.
Under a 2007 agreement between Egypt and Israel, Egypt controls the crossing but imports through the Rafah crossing require Israeli approval. Israel took control of the Rafah Border Crossing on May 7, 2024, during Gaza war and withdrew in Jan 2025 as part of ceasefire agreement. The crossing was later reoccupied during Operation Might and Sword on 18 March. It remains occupied today and is currently manned by the Gaza Division. The reopening of the Rafah crossing in both directions as part of Trump's Gaza war peace plan will follow the procedures established under the January 19, 2025, agreement. On 12 October 2025, trucks entered Gaza through the Rafah crossing; two days later, Israel again closed the crossing indefinitely.
The Rafah land port, known as the "Salah al Din Gate" is located at the original Rafah crossing on the Salah al-Din Road, the main highway of Gaza from Erez to Rafah.
Before Israel's disengagement from Gaza on 11 September 2005, the main border crossing at Rafah between Egypt and Gaza was controlled by Israeli authorities. Under the November 2005 Agreement on Movement and Access, administration was handed over to the Palestinian Authority, monitored by the European Union Border Assistance Mission (EUBAM Rafah). Rafah land port was bombed by Israel in October 2009 allegedly to destroy tunnels.
A new Rafah Crossing Point , sometimes referred to in Arabic as "Al Awda" ("The Return"), was constructed south of the town of Rafah. Separately, a commercial gate—known as the "Salah al-Din Gate"—was first opened in 2018 along Salah al-Din Road and is used for truck traffic between Egypt and Gaza.
By the Ottoman–British agreement of 1 October 1906, a border between Ottoman-ruled Palestine and British-ruled Egypt, from Taba to Rafah, was agreed upon.
From 1948, Gaza was occupied by Egypt. Consequently, a Gaza–Egypt border no longer existed. In the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel conquered both the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, both becoming occupied territories.
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Rafah Border Crossing
The Rafah Border Crossing (Arabic: معبر رفح, romanized: Ma`bar Rafaḥ) or Rafah Crossing Point is the sole crossing point between Egypt and Palestine's Gaza Strip and Gaza's sole border point with a country other than Israel.
The Rafah crossing was opened by Israel after the 1979 peace treaty and remained under Israeli control until 2005, when it was transferred to Egyptian, Palestinian Authority, and EU control, giving Palestinians partial control of an international border for the first time. In 2007, after Hamas seized Gaza, the EU withdrew, and Israel imposed a complete blockade, effectively sealing Gaza. In the same year, Egypt closed the Rafah crossing. Since then, the Rafah crossing has only opened intermittently for Palestinian movement.
Under a 2007 agreement between Egypt and Israel, Egypt controls the crossing but imports through the Rafah crossing require Israeli approval. Israel took control of the Rafah Border Crossing on May 7, 2024, during Gaza war and withdrew in Jan 2025 as part of ceasefire agreement. The crossing was later reoccupied during Operation Might and Sword on 18 March. It remains occupied today and is currently manned by the Gaza Division. The reopening of the Rafah crossing in both directions as part of Trump's Gaza war peace plan will follow the procedures established under the January 19, 2025, agreement. On 12 October 2025, trucks entered Gaza through the Rafah crossing; two days later, Israel again closed the crossing indefinitely.
The Rafah land port, known as the "Salah al Din Gate" is located at the original Rafah crossing on the Salah al-Din Road, the main highway of Gaza from Erez to Rafah.
Before Israel's disengagement from Gaza on 11 September 2005, the main border crossing at Rafah between Egypt and Gaza was controlled by Israeli authorities. Under the November 2005 Agreement on Movement and Access, administration was handed over to the Palestinian Authority, monitored by the European Union Border Assistance Mission (EUBAM Rafah). Rafah land port was bombed by Israel in October 2009 allegedly to destroy tunnels.
A new Rafah Crossing Point , sometimes referred to in Arabic as "Al Awda" ("The Return"), was constructed south of the town of Rafah. Separately, a commercial gate—known as the "Salah al-Din Gate"—was first opened in 2018 along Salah al-Din Road and is used for truck traffic between Egypt and Gaza.
By the Ottoman–British agreement of 1 October 1906, a border between Ottoman-ruled Palestine and British-ruled Egypt, from Taba to Rafah, was agreed upon.
From 1948, Gaza was occupied by Egypt. Consequently, a Gaza–Egypt border no longer existed. In the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel conquered both the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, both becoming occupied territories.