The reopened Rafah crossing in Gaza brings pitiful gains

In theory, gaza is on the road to recovery. Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace” has appointed a panel of Palestinian technocrats—the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (ncag)—to govern the strip in place of Hamas. At Davos, the World Economic Forum’s jamboree, his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, unveiled a glossy reconstruction map of the strip, replete with a sparkling corniche. Israel has recovered all of its hostages, dead and alive, clearing the way for the second phase of the president’s peace plan: rebuilding. And on February 2nd it reopened the Rafah crossing with Egypt, which has been largely closed since May 2024.

The reality is grimmer. Since the ceasefire, Israeli air strikes have killed about 500 Palestinians in Gaza. More food is entering the strip but many items, such as tomatoes, remain a luxury. Over 1m people still shelter in ruins or tents. Few have electricity. Severe respiratory infections are increasing rapidly. Israel has ordered Médecins Sans Frontières and other aid agencies to leave because they have refused to provide lists of their staff without assurances that they would not become targets. (It has previously alleged that employees of the un’s refugee agency for Palestinians had taken part in the massacres of October 7th.)

The Rafah crossing was originally meant to open soon after the truce in October. On the day it did, Israel allowed just five patients and seven relatives to leave (around 20,000 Gazans need urgent medical treatment abroad). Of the 50 people registered to return to Gaza that day, only three women and nine children were let in. They said crossing the border took over 15 hours and that they faced eu monitors, a Palestinian militia tied to Israel and Israeli goons who blindfolded, handcuffed and interrogated them.

As part of the ceasefire, Hamas agreed to hand power to the ncag. Israel has not yet let the committee even enter Gaza. It has no funding and no bank account. Its members are waiting in a Cairo hotel. An attempt to assert some legitimacy by unveiling a logo, based on that of the Palestinian Authority (pa), was swiftly withdrawn after Israel objected. Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, is insisting all money for the group flows through him.

American and Israeli firms eyeing lucrative contracts are looking to the United Arab Emirates (uae) to pay for reconstruction. But on February 2nd the uae denied any such plans. Steve Witkoff, Mr Trump’s envoy, continues to shuttle to Jerusalem, hoping to persuade Israel not to torpedo his boss’s vision for Gaza.

And so a vicious cycle spins on. Nothing meaningful can happen in Gaza until Hamas disarms, says Israel. It will not withdraw from the strip until an international stabilisation force has completed disarming the group and the strip has been demilitarised. That force has not materialised. Meanwhile Hamas may be reconsidering its promise to disarm. It points to the pa in the West Bank, which Israel has starved of customs revenues and brought to the brink of collapse despite its close security co-ordination with Israel. On February 3rd a gunman in Gaza fired on an Israeli patrol, wounding an officer. Israel launched air strikes, killed 20 people and briefly closed the Rafah crossing again. ■