Gaza’s Rafah crossing to reopen Saturday: Sources

GAZA (AFP): Gaza’s Rafah border crossing with Egypt is to reopen Saturday following a fourth exchange of hostages and prisoners under a truce agreement, a Hamas official and a source with knowledge of the discussions told AFP.

“The mediators informed Hamas of Israel’s approval to open Rafah crossing tomorrow, Saturday, after the completion of the fourth batch of prisoner exchange,” the Hamas official said.

The source explained that injured Palestinians would be evacuated from the territory at the crossing, “as per the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release agreement.”

The Rafah border crossing with Egypt was one of the main entry points into the Palestinian territory and a vital conduit for aid.

But the border has been closed since Israeli forces seized the Palestinian side in May last year.

The European Union’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Friday the 27-member bloc had deployed a monitoring mission at the Rafah crossing “at the request of the Palestinians and the Israelis.”

“It will support Palestinian border personnel and allow the transfer of individuals out of Gaza, including those who need medical care,” she wrote on X.

Israel and Hamas are to carry out their fourth hostage-prisoner swap of the Gaza ceasefire on Saturday as part of a truce agreement that came into effect on January 19.

So far 15 hostages have been handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

Israeli campaign group, the Hostage and Missing Families Forum, named the Israeli captives to be released on Saturday as Yarden Bibas, dual American national Keith Siegel and dual French citizen Ofer Kalderon.

In exchange, Israel will free 90 prisoners, nine of whom are serving life sentences, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club advocacy group said.

During the initial 42 days, Israeli forces will withdraw from Gaza’s densely populated areas, mediator Qatar said when the deal was announced earlier this month.

Israeli media reported that under the proposed deal, Israel would maintain a buffer zone within Gaza during the first phase.

Israeli forces were expected to remain up to “800 meters (yards) inside Gaza stretching from Rafah in the south to Beit Hanun in the north,” according to a source close to Hamas.