Israel to open Rafah border crossing to two-way traffic in coming days, Saudi report claims

Israel has agreed to open the Rafah Border Crossing in both directions, the Saudi news channel Al-Sharq reported on Monday. 

The Arab news site said the decision was made following discussions between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida last week. This would appear to contradict statements that Netanyahu previously made to his coalition partners, promising that the border would remain closed until Hamas complies with its obligations to return all hostages and to disarm. 

Al-Sharq quoted a Palestinian official who said, “Egypt informed us of Israel's agreement to open the Rafah crossing in both directions, but we are awaiting the actual implementation.” 

Citing Palestinian officials, the Saudi news site reported that Palestinian Authority (PA) personnel would also staff the Rafah border crossing, on the condition that they not wear official PA insignia. Al-Sharq claims this arrangement stems from Israel’s view that no alternative body is currently suitable to manage civilian affairs in Gaza, amid unresolved concerns about countries such as Turkey and Pakistan, which have volunteered to contribute troops to an international stabilization force envisioned under the Trump Peace Plan.

The report also cited “western diplomatic sources” who say that "the American side pressured Tel Aviv to agree to open the crossing and to form a local technocratic committee to manage the Gaza Strip.” 

Meanwhile, Israeli defense officials have been attempting to curb an influx of weapons illegally smuggled over the border into southern Israel. 

On Sunday evening, Israel Defense Forces intercepted a drone carrying three rifles across the border from Egypt into Israeli territory, the military reported. In recent days, several Israeli military correspondents have reported on thwarted interceptions along the southern border with Egypt. 

Watch: this is how the smuggling of weapons from Egypt's Sinai peninsula to Israel and to Gaza takes place almost on a daily basis: Overnight the Israeli air force aerial control center identified a drone crossing from the west into Israeli territory to smuggle weapons. IDF… pic.twitter.com/JeunchwiRG

— גיא עזריאל Guy Azriel (@GuyAz) December 30, 2025

On Jan. 1, i24 news military correspondent Inon Yttach, reported on an interception of a large drone carrying 20 M-16 rifles across the border. He noted that several such deliveries were successfully carried out by smugglers before the military intercepted one attempt. 

דיווחנו ב-i24NEWS

פרטים חדשים על רחפן הענק שהבריח 20 נשקי M16 בגבול מצרים:

1. הרחפן שנתפס היה גדול - בקנה מידה תקדימי - והצליח להבריח ע"פ ההערכות את הכמות הגדולה ביותר של הכבודה בבת אחת מגבול מצרים.

2. בשונה ממה שתואר: הרחפן מבצע שליחויות בגבול מצרים כבר תקופה ארוכה. במערכת… pic.twitter.com/DcBn0CxIKZ

— ינון שלום יתח (@inon_yttach) January 1, 2026

He also criticized the military for focusing on the successful interception while not addressing the fact that the operations had reportedly been known about for more than a month before being stopped.

Seth Frantzman of The Jerusalem Post has long called attention to weapons smuggling efforts on the southern border and in Judea and Samaria, warning that the situation could potentially lead to another Oct. 7-style attack from Palestinian communities in the disputed territories. 

The massive smuggling of illegal weapons into Israel occurs on almost every border, they come from Jordan, from Egypt, and many are rifles and more sophisticated munitions, while only a small number of Israelis can obtain licenses for handguns. The fact is that massive amounts of… https://t.co/ZEtd7Ub1fj

— Seth Frantzman (@sfrantzman) November 19, 2025

Since the ceasefire, the forces of the IDF's Northern Brigade combat team have been operating on the Israeli side of the Yellow Line in northern Gaza, working to locate and destroy infrastructure used by terrorists

The forces, together with troops from the Yahalom Combat Engineering unit, recently destroyed a nearly 2-km (1.25-mile) long tunnel in the Beit Lahiya area. This operation comes as Defense Minister Israel Katz has instructed the military to destroy as much Hamas infrastructure as possible inside the Yellow Line before IDF troops may be required to withdraw as part of the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal – or before the renewal of conflict, if the deal falls apart.  

The IDF continues to act against violations of the Gaza ceasefire agreement. Earlier on Monday, the military struck a terrorist who was actively planning to carry out a terror attack directed at Israeli forces on the Israeli side of the Yellow Line, the military said. 

The Israeli military also announced that it struck a Hamas terrorist who “planned to carry out a terror attack against IDF forces in the immediate future.” 

“The terrorist posed a real threat to IDF forces and was therefore struck in a precise operation,” the IDF statement said. “Prior to the strike, steps were taken to reduce harm to civilians, including the use of precise weaponry, aerial observations, and additional intelligence information.” 

Additionally, Palestinian sources reported a strike in the al-Mawasi area in Gaza on Monday afternoon. There were no casualties reported at the time of publication.