ByMAYA ZANGER-NADIS
Updated:

Ali Shaath, the head of the new Palestinian technocratic committee charged with governing the Gaza Strip, said on Monday that the opening of Gaza's Rafah Border Crossing signaled the start of a process to open a "window of hope" for Palestinians in Gaza.

“This step...marks the beginning of a long process to open a genuine window of hope for our people in the Gaza Strip," Shaath told Agence France-Presse following the reopening of the crossing.

Israel fully reopened the border crossing between Gaza and Egypt on Monday for people on foot, a day after rolling out a limited, one-day pilot on Sunday to address potential logistical issues.

Sam Rose, Director of UNRWA Affairs in Gaza, told the BBC on Monday that the reopening of Rafah reveals "competing dynamics."

"On the one hand, [there is] positive progress with the reopening of Rafah, yet over the past 24 hours," Rose claimed, "30 Palestinians were killed in airstrikes during a ceasefire."

Chair of the Palestinian National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, Ali Shaath reacts during a meeting with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty (not pictured), in Cairo, Egypt, January 19, 2026.
Chair of the Palestinian National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, Ali Shaath reacts during a meeting with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty (not pictured), in Cairo, Egypt, January 19, 2026. (credit: REUTERS/MOHAMED ABD EL GHANY)

British Foreign Minister Yvette Cooper wrote on X/Twitter that she welcomed the Rafah crossing "opening for people to cross both ways on foot," adding that "much more still needs to be done."

Cooper specified that "aid must flow in, restrictions on essential supplies must ease, & aid workers must be allowed to operate."

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Monday that opening Rafah "marks a concrete and positive step in the peace plan." 

Kallas also mentioned that opening the crossing is only the first step and that Gazans urgently need humanitarian aid.

"For Gaza's sick and wounded," Kallas wrote on X, "the reopening is a lifeline...At the same time, Gaza remains in urgent need of aid. Its reconstruction will depend on Hamas' demilitarization."

Israel reopens Rafah Crossing, Egypt expected to impose caps on travelers

Collectively, the Sunday-Monday rollout now allows Palestinians to leave the enclave and to let back in certain Gazans who fled during the war in the enclave.

Cairo is also expected to impose unannounced caps on the number of travelers, though the number of daily travelers allowed was expected to be substantial.

Yonah Jeremy Bob contributed to this report.