Rafah crossing set to reopen, Israeli officials say
Israeli officials say the Gaza Strip’s main border crossing in Rafah will reopen to Palestinians on Monday, while preparations continue at the war-torn region’s main crossing, which has been largely closed for almost two years.
Before the war, the Rafah border crossing with Egypt was the only direct exit point for most Gazans to reach the outside world, as well as a major entry point for aid to the region.
It has been largely closed since May 2024, and the Gaza side is under Israeli military control.
COGAT, the Israeli military agency that oversees humanitarian coordination, said the crossing would be opened in both directions on foot only for residents of the Gaza Strip and that its operation would be coordinated with Egypt and the European Union.
“Today is a pilot mission to test and evaluate the operation of the crossing. The movement of residents in both directions, entering and exiting Gaza, is expected to begin tomorrow,” COGAT said in a statement. he said.
A Palestinian official and a European source close to the EU mission confirmed the details.
Egypt’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Israel has said the crossing point will be opened under strict security controls only for Palestinians who want to leave the war-torn area and for Palestinians who want to return after fleeing fighting in the first months of the war.
Many of those expected to leave are sick and injured Gazans who need medical care abroad.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health said there were 20,000 patients waiting to leave the area.
An Israeli defense official said the crossing could accommodate a total of 150-200 people in both directions.
The official added that more people will leave than return as patients leave with their attendants.
Mustafa Abdel Hadi, a kidney patient waiting for a transplant abroad in a hospital in the center of Gaza, said, “(The welfare gate) is a lifeline for us patients. We do not have the resources to be treated in Gaza.”
“If the war impacted a healthy person by 1 per cent, it has impacted us 200 per cent” he said, sitting as he received dialysis treatment at al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.
He said his travel request was approved.
Two Egyptian officials said that at least 50 Palestinian patients will pass from Rafah to Egypt for treatment on Sunday.
About 200 people, including patients and family members, will cross into Egypt each day in the first few days, and 50 people per day will return to the Gaza Strip, officials said.
The list of Gazans who will pass through the crossing was submitted by Egypt and approved by Israel, the official said.
Reopening the border crossing was a key requirement of the first phase of US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the Israel-Hamas war.
However, the ceasefire, which came into force in October after two years of conflict, has been repeatedly shaken by violence.
Local health officials say more than 500 Palestinians have died in Israeli attacks in the strip since the ceasefire, and Palestinian militants have killed four Israeli soldiers, according to Israeli officials.
On Saturday, Israel carried out some of its most intense air strikes since the ceasefire, killing at least 30 people. It was stated that this attack took place in response to Hamas’ violation of the ceasefire when militants emerged from a tunnel in Rafah on Friday.
The next stages of Trump’s plan envisage handing over the administration to Palestinian technocrats, Hamas laying down its weapons and Israeli troops withdrawing from the region, while an international force will maintain the peace and rebuild the Gaza Strip.
Hamas has so far refused to disarm, and Israel has repeatedly stated that if the Islamist militant group is not disarmed peacefully, it will use force to do so.
