Why Rafah’s reopening matters for Gaza’s next phase (Full Transcript)

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: Hi, I'm Charlotte Gallagher and welcome to the Global News Podcast on YouTube, where we go behind the headlines to focus on one story and why it matters. Today we're talking about the opening of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt, often described as Gaza's gateway to the world. Israel has largely kept it closed for two years. Now a small number of people will be able to go in and out. Rafah's opening was included in the Gaza peace plan. What could come next? We're joined now by the BBC's Middle East correspondent Yolande Nell in Jerusalem. Hi Yolande. Hello there. So firstly, we hear so much about the Rafah border crossing in the news, but what is it and why is it so important?

[00:00:42] Speaker 2: So the crossing point is one of five that Gaza has and it's the only one that doesn't go into Israel. It goes to neighbouring Egypt and that's why really for years now when I've been in Gaza in the past, people have described it as their gateway to the world or their lifeline to the world. And this was a key part of President Trump's 20 point plan. It's actually one of the points that the Rafah border crossing should reopen. That's why we've really been waiting for that. It had been hoped that aid would go directly from Egypt where there is so much of it waiting into the Palestinian territory through the Rafah crossing. We've been told that that's not happening at this stage, but the crossing point is also just so important for people. And there are literally tens of thousands of people, sick and wounded Palestinians inside Gaza. You've got students inside Gaza, other people who are desperate and waiting to leave. And you've also got, you know, many thousands of Palestinians who want to go back to the Gaza Strip to be reunited with their families.

[00:01:45] Speaker 1: I was going to ask you that because obviously not everyone will be allowed to cross through this border crossing. So it's a set number of people, is it, that have appointments or they're going to university and things like that?

[00:01:55] Speaker 2: So basically to cross through this crossing point, you have to be authorised by both the Israelis and the Egyptians. But, you know, there are also these stringent Israeli security checks for people who are going through and it's such small numbers that you're talking about. What we're hearing is it's about 50 people who are from the list of sick and wounded who will be able to go out. It's the World Health Organisation that's coordinating the medical evacuations and it's only going to be with one or two carers in each case. And then 50 people allowed to go back from the Egyptian side into the Gaza Strip. And what we've been hearing is initially at least it's going to be those people who were left out for medical treatment that are now being allowed to go back home.

[00:02:44] Speaker 1: The reopening of this was included in phase one of President Trump's peace plan for Gaza. Now this is reopening. What happens next?

[00:02:53] Speaker 2: I mean, really, this completes phase one in many ways, because phase one of the ceasefire plan, it was about the return of the Israeli hostages in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees being returned by Israel. And then you were supposed to have this big increase in desperately needed aid going into Gaza. The Rafah crossing was one component of all of this. Of course, we saw delays from the Israeli side really because of the very slow return of the bodies of the deceased hostages. That's why Israel said it wasn't going to allow the Rafah crossing point to open as had previously been expected. We only had just a week ago the retrieval of the remains of that Israeli police officer Ran Gavilli, the last of the hostages in Gaza. And since then, you know, it's got this mechanism going so that the Rafah border crossing can now be reopened.

[00:03:54] Speaker 1: And what's phase two of the peace plan? And is that on track, do you think, to be achieved?

[00:03:59] Speaker 2: So I mean, if you think how difficult it's been to get this far with phase one, phase two, which Washington has declared has now already started, that is all of the more complicated issues. That is things like disarming Hamas. And Israel has made very clear that that has to happen before it will allow reconstruction of the Gaza Strip to start. You've also got this Palestinian technocratic committee that's supposed to take charge of the day to day running of the Gaza Strip, overseen by the International Board of Peace. Now, although we do have the names now of all the members of that technocratic committee, different Palestinian experts that Israel's even approved after the Palestinian factions got together and decided on these members. Well, that committee is still stuck in Cairo at the moment. It's not gone into Gaza and it's not totally clear, you know, what are the arrangements going to be for it to operate on the ground? There's also this big question of an international stabilisation force that is promised by President Trump's peace plan as well. And at the moment, we don't have any countries that Israel would approve of really saying that they're going to commit their forces. We don't know when this force is going to be set up. And that's obviously, you know, a very important part of taking things forward as well.

[00:05:17] Speaker 1: And if you think about President Trump and his foreign policy at the moment, he does seem quite stretched because there's Ukraine, there's Venezuela, there's Iran and then there's also this. Is there a sense that the Americans are still focused on driving this peace plan through?

[00:05:32] Speaker 2: I mean, I would say that it's also world attention that has switched to those other things. And, you know, people in Gaza, when we speak to them, are really very worried that the world attention could be going away. We also know that aid organisations are very worried that, you know, donors and donations could be going away as well, just to the point, which is so crucial to advance things. We did have President Trump's Middle East adviser, his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, as one of those who was outlining a Davos, the kind of next stages of phase two, his vision for reconstruction. I mean, it is very ambitious. But you do have here, you know, the Arab Gulf countries in particular, close allies of Washington that really want to take things forward as well. And there is always the danger that, you know, as soon as this doesn't advance, that Hamas could look to take advantage of that. Israel could look to take advantage of that. And you could see the ceasefire falling apart. So I think, you know, there are enough players here that realise there is real momentum that needs to be kept up. But as we've seen, even with the reopening of the Rafah crossing, things do happen painfully slowly.

[00:06:45] Speaker 1: Yolande, is the ceasefire still holding? Because when a lot of people think of a ceasefire, they think, OK, that's it, there's no more violence. But then we hear in the news that there are outbreaks of violence.

[00:06:57] Speaker 2: Definitely. And, you know, some people in Gaza have taken to calling this not a ceasefire, but a reduced fire, because we do still see these regular incidents where Palestinians are killed having crossed the so-called yellow line, which is the line that marks the point to which Israeli troops have withdrawn to in the Gaza Strip. They still control about half of Gaza. And usually the Israeli military says that these were individuals who are posing a threat to its troops. Now, on Saturday, there was really a very serious day. The ceasefire looked very shaky indeed, with more than 30 Palestinians who were killed, including several children, according to hospitals in the Gaza Strip. And that was one of the highest death tolls in one day since the October ceasefire, with Israel accusing Hamas of having violated the terms of the agreement. And this all adds to people's sense of real insecurity in Gaza.

[00:08:01] Speaker 1: Is there hope, both in Gaza and Israel, that this is going to last, that there will be an end to this at some point?

[00:08:10] Speaker 2: There is deep trauma and deep mistrust on both sides. Every day, commentators in the Israeli media, in the Palestinian media, in regional media are really sort of picking over the latest developments and where things go from here. And it is hard to find hope. But you mentioned the US has moved on. This is what happens in world affairs. Things move very quickly. And it's our job, I guess, as journalists to try to keep reminding people of what exactly is happening here, even though at the moment, you know, one aspect of the Rafah border crossing, some journalists were asking, will we be allowed to go in finally to Gaza there to join our Palestinian colleagues? And it's been made clear at this point, that is not something that's on the cards.

[00:08:54] Speaker 1: Thanks Yolande. That was our Middle East correspondent Yolande Nell in Jerusalem. And if you liked this episode, do please subscribe to us here on YouTube. And if you'd like us to cover any other stories, please leave a comment below. And you can hear more international news on the BBC's Global News Podcast. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.