The Next Century Foundation welcomes the limited re-opening of the Rafah crossing on 1st February 2026. It is particularly noteworthy that, according to reports, the same number of people were permitted to return to Gaza as were allowed to leave on the first day of reopening. Some of the dangerous consequences of a one-sided reopening were explored in a previous blog by NCF Research Officer Rathi Ramakrishnan.

While this development is positive, much more remains to be done to ensure that Rafah operates as a safe and functional border crossing. Large numbers of Gazans have been forced to leave in order to pursue education or access urgent medical care, yet those allowed to return so far represent only a small fraction of the cumulative exits since the violence erupted in 2023. The reopening of Rafah should serve as a catalyst for enabling greater numbers of Gazans to return home, should they wish to do so.

This is an issue on which the NCF has campaigned consistently, including through a written statement submitted to the United Nations. That statement highlights the inequities of the current situation and sets out concrete measures to safeguard the rights of those transiting the crossing. The statement can be accessed via the link below, or read in full beneath this post.

Link to UN Written Statement on the Rafah Crossing:

ESTABLISHING A BIDIRECTIONAL, FUNCTIONAL AND ACCOUNTABLE BORDER CROSSING AT RAFAH

The Next Century Foundation calls upon the United Nations Human Rights Council, the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and members of the Board of Peace to pay urgent attention to the gradual and permanent displacement of citizens in the Gaza Strip. Most particularly, we call upon the governments of Arab States who are founding members of the Board of Peace to do so, namely:

• The Kingdom of Bahrain
• The Arab Republic of Egypt
• The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
• The State of Kuwait
• The Kingdom of Morocco
• The State of Qatar
• The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
• The United Arab Emirates

In December 2025, the State of Israel’s Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) announced that the Rafah Crossing may open from February 2026 exclusively for the exit of residents from the Gaza Strip to the Arab Republic of Egypt. Those who have already left Gaza have been barred from returning, and the same risk applies to anyone who chooses to leave now.

Israel has suspended permits for around 40 humanitarian organisations, including Médecins Sans Frontières and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). Additionally approximately 77 per cent of Gaza’s road network has been damaged, severely restricting aid delivery. Alongside these measures, the damage to infrastructure like hospitals, schools, water pumps and the looming possibility of death in a warzone, work to narrow the space for survival inside Gaza. This effectively steers civilians toward departure as the only remaining means of accessing food, higher education, medical care and safety. Reopening Rafah without firm commitments to reconstruction, continued humanitarian access and guarantees of return risks becoming not an act of relief, but a form of forced displacement under a humanitarian veil.

In line with Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on the freedom of movement, we urge the United Nations Human Rights Council to establish a strong framework for the reopening of the Rafah Crossing, so it may function as a formally administered border rather than a mechanism of displacement. Its operation must be governed by clear principles of bidirectionality, safety and the sustained inflow of life-supporting goods and services. If the status quo is left unchallenged, it risks setting a wider precedent in which humanitarian action is used as a vocabulary to legitimise population transfer and ethnic cleansing, offering other states a template to justify population removal while avoiding accountability.

RECOMMENDATIONS SET 1: ALLOWING SAFE AND SUSTAINED BIDIRECTIONAL FLOWS OF PEOPLE AND GOODS

The purpose of opening Rafah cannot be limited to facilitating exit alone. Measures must be taken to also preserve the viability of remaining.

1. OPERATE RAFAH AS A BIDIRECTIONAL CROSSING: Rafah should be opened on a bidirectional basis, allowing for the entry and exit of civilians. Civilians who leave should retain the ability to return at any stage, including during the conflict and especially once pathways for reconstruction, recovery and durable peace are established.
2. GUARANTEE SAFE AND NON-MILITARISED PASSAGE DURING OPENING PERIODS: Whenever Rafah is open, crossings must occur under conditions of safety and calm. No military operations, airstrikes or hostilities should take place in or around the crossing zone during operating hours. Civilians should not be forced to risk their lives to cross, nor should aid convoys face insecurity or obstruction. Safe passage is essential not only for those leaving, but also for humanitarian personnel. The act of crossing itself must not become another site of harm.
3. PRESERVING LIVEABILITY INSIDE GAZA: The conditions within Gaza are inseparable from the function of Rafah. Even a bidirectional crossing cannot be considered fair if life inside Gaza is systematically rendered unliveable. The opening of Rafah must coincide with the large-scale, regular entry of humanitarian aid, including food, water, medical supplies, fuel and shelter materials. Aid flows should be predictable and sufficient to meet civilian needs, so that remaining in Gaza remains a viable option. If aid is restricted or unreliable, civilians are effectively pushed toward leaving in order to survive. To prevent departure from becoming coerced by conditions, humanitarian organisations whose operations have been suspended or restricted, including major international medical and relief agencies, must be reinstated and allowed to operate freely. In addition, the destruction of refugee camps and civilian shelters, such as in Nur Shams, must cease, as such actions directly increase displacement toward Rafah. Ensuring liveable conditions inside Gaza is about restoring choice. Civilians should be able to decide whether to stay or leave without one option being functionally impossible.
4. SEPARATE HUMANITARIAN MOVEMENT FROM POLITICAL LEVERAGE: The operation of Rafah must be insulated from a transactional or retaliatory logic. Conditioning access, aid or movement on political demands risks turning a humanitarian crossing into an instrument of coercion. If Rafah is to serve civilians rather than politics, its function must be stable, rules-based, and governed by humanitarian principles rather than episodic bargaining.

RECOMMENDATIONS SET 2: CREATING A BORDER ADMINISTRATION FORCE

For Rafah to function as a credible crossing rather than a unidirectional release valve, it must operate with the basic administrative standards expected of any state border. The substantial lack of systematic data, documentation and oversight from the international community has allowed movement through Rafah to remain opaque and legally ambiguous. This ambiguity undermines future accountability should return be restricted or denied, and addressing this gap is a necessary first step. An independent and neutral authority should be stationed at the Rafah Crossing, with the sole mandate of monitoring civilian movement. The body would operate with a clearly defined mandate, encompassing the following responsibilities and characteristics.

1. SYSTEMATIC REGISTRATION AND DATA COLLECTION: The primary role of the body should be administrative and humanitarian. All civilians crossing Rafah should be registered through a standardised process. This should include the collection of basic but essential information such as:

• • Full names
  • Age
  • Place of origin within Gaza
  • Reason for departure (e.g. medical treatment, displacement due to war, education, family reunification, employment, etc.)
  • Intended destination or host country

This data should be securely stored, anonymised where appropriate, and made available to relevant international bodies. The purpose is not surveillance, but record-keeping to ensure that population movement can be tracked over time and that future claims of return denial can be assessed against verified figures. The data gathered through this process should be preserved as a long-term accountability mechanism. If, at a later stage, Israel restricts or denies return, the international community would no longer be forced to rely on estimates, suspicions or anecdotal evidence. Instead, it would possess verified records of who left, when, why and under what conditions. This creates an evidentiary record should re-entry later be denied, and enables periodic review mechanisms whereby future refusal of re-entry could be examined, challenged or legally scrutinised. In this sense, documentation and monitoring can safeguard against silent and untraceable displacement.

2. ISSUANCE OF SPECIAL PROTECTIVE STATUS DOCUMENTATION: Each individual permitted to cross should receive official documentation issued by the independent authority. This documentation would serve multiple purposes:

• • Proof of identity and origin
  • Evidence of the circumstances under which departure occurred
  • A practical tool enabling access to healthcare, education, shelter, and humanitarian assistance in host countries

Without such documentation, many Palestinians who leave Gaza risk falling into legal limbo – unrecognised and unable to access services in their host destinations.

3. REGIONAL COORDINATION FOR MEDICAL SERVICE DELIVERY: Upon crossing, civilians should undergo immediate health and wellbeing checks conducted by qualified medical personnel (part of the administrative body). Cases requiring specialist treatment should be prioritised based on medical urgency. The independent authority should coordinate with regional healthcare systems, including in the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the Republic of Türkiye, the United Arab Emirates, among other neighbouring states, to facilitate onward medical evacuation where necessary. The authority should maintain active coordination channels with regional governments, hospitals and humanitarian actors to ensure that host countries are informed and prepared. This includes advance notice of expected patient flows, medical specialisations required and logistical needs, allowing regional actors to prepare capacity in advance. Such coordination is especially important given that many Palestinians crossing Rafah are likely to do so for urgent medical reasons. Ensuring predictable, organised transfers reduces strain on border facilities and prevents secondary displacement driven by lack of care.

Taken together, these steps may provide a workable framework to manage civilian movement while safeguarding long term rights. Rafah could become the foundation for reconstruction and recovery, and a positive step toward a future in which Palestinians and Israelis alike can move beyond mere survival and live with dignity in their homelands. Freedom of movement should not become a privilege granted to a few when most civilians have had no part in the war that surrounds them.