The Rafah border was opened on 25 November 2005 , operated by the Palestinian Authority and US-sponsored Egypt , under supervision of EU observers . During the first six months of 2006 , the crossing was opened nine and a half hours a day with an average of 650 people crossing daily each way , which was almost double the average prior to the AMA . After the capture of an Israeli soldier , the Rafah border was closed on 25 June 2006 , although the incident did not happen in Rafah . Since then , the crossing was only irregularly opened for very limited cases . Israel denied the EU observers access to the border crossing . The border was never opened for the passage of goods . When Hamas took over the Gaza Strip in 2007 , Egypt and Israel closed the borders with Gaza
capture of an Israeli soldier
2006 Gaza cross-border raid
Philadelphi Route