After over nine months of closure, the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt partially reopened on Monday, allowing for the limited evacuation of Palestinian patients and the entry of a small number of individuals.The reopening-coordinated with Israeli oversight and following recent clashes near the crossing-marks a potential, though fragile, shift in access to the besieged gaza Strip, which has been devastated by ongoing conflict since the October 7th attacks. While humanitarian organizations welcome the move, concerns remain about the restricted nature of access and the continued blockade of essential aid, as Egypt prepares to receive a surge of patients with significant medical needs. The move also precedes the anticipated arrival of a provisional management team as part of a U.S.-brokered peace plan.
Keystone-SDA
Palestinian patients and those injured began leaving the Gaza Strip for Egypt on Monday, marking the first day of a limited reopening of the Rafah crossing. The border had been closed by the Israeli military since May 2024.
Approximately 150 people were scheduled to depart the territory, which has been devastated by two years of conflict, on Monday, with 50 expected to enter, according to Egyptian officials. Rafah remains the sole passage between the Gaza Strip and the outside world that does not transit through Israel, making its operation crucial for humanitarian access.
Patients were transported across the border in three ambulances and “immediately examined to determine which hospital they would be transferred to,” an Egyptian Health Ministry official told Agence France-Presse on Monday.
“We are very happy that the crossing point is open, but we are also afraid and hope to be able to return home to Gaza,” Hala Abou Mustafa, accompanying her wounded son, told AFP.
The limited reopening comes just days after Israeli strikes on the Palestinian territory resulted in dozens of fatalities, according to the civil defense. The Israeli military stated it was responding to the emergence of Palestinian fighters from a tunnel in an area it controls near Rafah.
Among the first permitted to seek treatment in Egypt was Mahmoud, a 38-year-old Palestinian battling leukemia. He expressed his relief, stating that “in Gaza there is no treatment, no life.” However, he also voiced sadness at leaving family behind in a territory where “the situation is catastrophic.”
“Window of Hope”
Ali Shaath, head of the Palestinian committee tasked with the provisional administration of Gaza (NCAG), described the step as “the beginning of a long process aimed at…opening a real window of hope for our people in the Gaza Strip,” referencing the Donald Trump peace plan.
Khaled Mogawer, governor of North Sinai – which includes the Egyptian side of Rafah – said 50 Palestinian patients and 84 accompanying individuals were expected to enter Egypt on Monday.
Israel’s Kan television reported that the crossing would be open for approximately six hours each day, while Egypt’s AlQahera News stated it would remain open “24/7.”
For other Palestinians from Gaza who had traveled to Egypt for medical care before the complete border closure, the prospect of returning home is now a reality. “My mother finished her treatment and we are waiting for her to return from Egypt. For me, it’s a day of joy. I will hug my mother,” said Abdel Rahim Mohammed, a 30-year-old resident of Khan Younes in southern Gaza.
The Israeli military took control of the Palestinian side of the border crossing in May 2024, and it has remained closed since, with only a brief reopening in early 2025.
U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, among the mediators in the Gaza conflict, is scheduled to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, according to an Israeli official.
“Prior Security Authorization”
The full reopening of Rafah, following the return of all hostages from Gaza to Israel, is stipulated in the U.S. President’s plan to definitively end the war triggered on October 7, 2023, by the Hamas attack on Israeli soil.
Israeli authorities are currently requiring “prior security authorization” for both departures from and arrivals into Gaza, coordinated with Egypt and overseen by the European Union mission in Rafah.
Despite urgent appeals from the United Nations and humanitarian organizations, the crossing remains closed to the entry of aid into the war-torn territory, which has suffered tens of thousands of casualties.
“The partial reopening…is welcome. But it is not enough; it must function as a real humanitarian corridor so that we can quickly deliver vital aid,” said Tom Fletcher, the UN’s humanitarian operations chief.
International aid from Egypt currently transits through the Israeli border crossing at Kerem Shalom, located a few kilometers from Rafah.
According to AlQahera News, 150 hospitals and 300 ambulances have been mobilized in Egypt, along with 12,000 doctors and 30 emergency teams, to receive patients from Gaza. Mohammed Abou Salmiya, director of the territory’s main hospital, Al-Shifa, reports “20,000 patients, including 4,500 children” who “urgently need care.”
The border reopening is also expected to allow the entry of the 15 members of the NCAG, tasked with managing the territory during a transitional period under the authority of the “Peace Council” chaired by Donald Trump, at a date yet to be determined.
