The Rafah border crossing resumed activity on Monday, reopening to a tightly regulated flow of Gaza Strip residents under close IDF supervision. Operations are limited to a six-hour window each day, running from 9:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m.
Israeli defense officials said they were encouraged by the results of the initial trial period. Under the current arrangement, as many as 150 Gaza residents may depart the territory daily, while entry from Egypt into Gaza is capped at 50 people per day. Day-to-day management of the crossing is being handled by the European Union Border Assistance Mission, working alongside Egyptian authorities.
Under the agreed procedure, Egypt is required to submit a daily roster of up to 50 individuals seeking permission to enter Gaza. Those names are reviewed through Israeli security checks, and only candidates who pass screening are cleared to cross on the following day.
At the same time, the European mission compiles a separate list of up to 150 Gaza residents requesting permission to leave the Strip, including details of their planned destinations. That list is then transferred to Egyptian officials, who decide which requests will be approved.
In preparation for reopening the crossing, and in accordance with instructions from Israel’s political leadership, the IDF recently completed a new security screening complex known as “Regavim.” The site, located in territory under IDF control, is operated by Israeli security agencies and is designed to tighten monitoring and security in the area.
At this facility, security personnel confirm identities against pre-approved Israeli databases and conduct comprehensive inspections of personal belongings. In addition, an Israeli-controlled remote technological system is used at the crossing exit point to block unauthorized individuals from passing through, eliminating the need for Israeli forces to be physically stationed at the crossing itself.
Only individuals who have received advance authorization are permitted to enter Gaza from Egypt. On the Gaza side, the crossing is run by local personnel under European supervision. After entering, approved travelers are transported by bus to the Israeli screening facility, where they undergo identity checks and physical inspections intended to prevent the transfer of weapons or prohibited equipment.
{Matzav.com}
United Torah Judaism MK Moshe Gafni said Sunday night that the demonstrations demanding the drafting of chareidim are not genuinely about bringing yeshiva bochurim into the IDF, but are instead part of a broader effort to bring down the current government.
Speaking in an interview on Kan Reshet Bet radio, Gafni dismissed the protesters’ stated goals. “They don’t actually want to take those who study Torah into the army – they just protest about everything,” he said.
He went on to argue that the draft issue is being used as a political weapon. “The Draft Law is a kind of mantra, a tool that can be used to bring down the government.” Gafni noted that the protests began even before the outbreak of the war and described a pattern in which demonstrators cycle through issues based on what gains traction. “What doesn’t succeed drops off the agenda, and what does succeed stays on the agenda,” he said, adding that he doubts the protests would stop even if yeshiva students were drafted in line with the demonstrators’ demands.
Gafni avoided laying out a definitive stance on the specific provisions of the draft law, proposed enlistment targets, or the parameters of Toraso Umnaso (“Torah as one’s profession”).
Still, he pointed to past hadracha from the gedolei Torah. “At the time, the leading gedolim said that anyone who is not studying Torah must not receive the Toraso Umnaso exemption. When the vote on the law comes, I – like my colleagues – will ask the gedolim, and if they instruct me to vote in favor, I will vote in favor.”
Addressing the possibility of rejoining the coalition, Gafni, who previously chaired the Knesset Finance Committee, said the decision would be a personal one. “If there comes a point where I feel I can be part of this coalition, I’ll return. If not, I won’t return.”
He stressed that he deliberately steers clear of public discussion about the draft in order “not to play into the hands of those who put it on the agenda in order to bring down the government.”
According to Gafni, the stability of the coalition ultimately rests with Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu. “If Netanyahu truly addresses the existing problems and acts with full force, I assume the government will complete its term. If he doesn’t go into it with full force – and he knows how to work when he wants to – then it won’t complete its term.”
{Matzav.com}
