The return of the remaining hostage, Ran Gvili, has been widely seen as removing the remaining obstacle to moving ahead with opening the Rafah crossing and proceeding with the U.S.-brokered ceasefire's second phase. Late Sunday, Netanyahu's office in a statement said: "Upon completion of this operations, and in accordance with what has been agreed upon with the United States, Israel will open the Rafah crossing.” It gave no details on how long that would be, but Israeli military officials were quoted in local media as saying the operation could take days to complete. Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini of the agency, also known as UNRWA, told The Associated Press the incident was the “latest attack on the U.N. in the ongoing attempt to dismantle the status of Palestine refugees.”
Author: NATALIE MELZER Associated Press
Published at: 2026-01-25 22:53:55
Still want to read the full version? Full article
