ROME: An EU mission at the Rafah border point between Gaza and Egypt will resume following the ceasefire, with the pedestrian crossing due to reopen on October 14, Italy said Friday.
The EUBAM monitoring mission is intended to provide a neutral, third-party presence at the key crossing and involves police from Italy, Spain and France. It was deployed in January but suspended in March.
In a statement, Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said he had authorized the resumption of Italian operations within the EU mission for the reopening of the crossing under the same conditions as in January.
It follows the ceasefire agreed between Israel and Hamas under a truce and hostage-release deal proposed by US President Donald Trump.
“On October 14, 2025, in compliance with the Trump agreement, in coordination with the European Union and the parties, the Rafah crossing will be opened alternately in two directions, exiting toward Egypt and entering toward Gaza,” Crosetto said.
He said Israel was “working to restore the logistical functionality of the crossing’s infrastructure as quickly as possible.”
Crosetto also said that “approximately 600 trucks carrying humanitarian aid will flow into Gaza from other (non-Rafah) crossings every day.”
In January, the EU said the main objective of the mission was to coordinate and facilitate the daily transit of up to 300 wounded and sick people.
Crosetto said Friday: “The passage of personnel will not be limited to serious medical cases, but will be extended to anyone who wishes (subject to the mutual approval of Israel and Egypt).”
The EU set up the civilian mission in 2005 to help monitor the Rafah crossing, but it was suspended two years later after the Palestinian group Hamas took control of Gaza.
EU-monitored Gaza pedestrian crossing to reopen next week: Italy
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EU-monitored Gaza pedestrian crossing to reopen next week: Italy
- An EU mission at the Rafah border point between Gaza and Egypt will resume following the ceasefire, with the pedestrian crossing due to reopen on October 14, Italy said Friday
UN-sanctioned migrant smuggler killed in western Libya
- In June 2018, the UN Security Council imposed sanctions on Al-Dabbashi, along with another five Libyan traffickers
CAIRO: A notorious militia leader in Libya, sanctioned by the UN for migrant trafficking across the Mediterranean Sea, was killed on Friday in a raid by security forces in the west of the country, according to Libyan authorities.
Ahmed Oumar Al-Fitouri Al-Dabbashi, nicknamed Ammu, was killed in the western city of Sabratha when security forces raided his hideout. The raid came in response to an attack on a security outpost by Al-Dabbashi’s militia, which left six members of the security forces severely wounded, according to a statement issued by the Security Threat Enforcement Agency, a security entity affiliated with Libya’s western government.
Al-Dabbashi, who was also sanctioned by the US Treasury for trafficking, was the leader of a powerful militia, the “Brigade of the Martyr Anas Al-Dabbashi,” in Sabratha, the biggest launching point in Libya for Europe-bound African migrants.
Al-Dabbashi’s brother Saleh Al-Dabbashi, another alleged trafficker, was arrested in the same raid, added the statement.
In June 2018, the UN Security Council imposed sanctions on Al-Dabbashi, along with another five Libyan traffickers. At the time, the UN report said that there was enough evidence that Al-Dabbashi’s militia controlled departure areas for migrants, camps, safe houses and boats.
Al-Dabbashi himself exposed migrants, including children, to “fatal circumstances” on land and at sea, and of threatening peace and stability in Libya and neighboring countries, according to the same report.
Al-Dabbashi was also sanctioned by the US Treasury for the same reason.
Libya has been a main transit point for migrants fleeing war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East. The country was plunged into chaos following a NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed longtime autocrat Muammar Qaddafi in 2011.
The country has been fragmented for years between rival administrations based in the east and the west of Libya, each backed by various armed militias and foreign governments.
