The Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt is reopening, with tighter restrictions
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Gaza’s Rafah border crossing with Egypt reopened on Monday to limited traffic, an important step towards ending the Israel-Hamas conflict but a largely symbolic development on the ground, as few people will be allowed to travel in any direction and no goods will enter the war-torn area.
In the first few hours of the opening, no one was seen crossing or leaving Gaza. Nevertheless, the reopening is seen as an important step as the US-led ceasefire agreement that went into effect on Oct. 10 we enter its second phase.
The deal halted more than two years of war between Israel and Hamas, which began with a Hamas-led offensive in southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Its first phase called for the exchange of all hostages held in Gaza for hundreds of Palestinians held by Israel, an increase in much-needed humanitarian aid and a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces.
Israeli forces seized the Rafah crossing in May 2024, calling it part of efforts to combat arms smuggling by the Hamas terrorist group. The crossing was briefly opened to evacuate medical patients during the ceasefire in early 2025. Israel had refused to reopen the Rafah crossing, but the return of the remains of the last hostage in Gaza paved the way for further progress.
About 20,000 Palestinian children and adults in need of medical assistance are hoping to leave the devastated Gaza by crossing, according to Gaza health officials. Thousands of other Palestinians outside the area hope to enter and return to their homes.
Egyptian state-run media and an Israeli security official also confirmed the reopening. The officials spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss the matter.
Egypt is preparing to receive the wounded in the war
Before the war, Rafah was the main crossing point for people entering and leaving Gaza. A number of other crossings were all assigned to Israel. Under the terms of the cease-fire, Israeli forces control the area between Rafah and the area where most Palestinians live.
About 150 hospitals across Egypt are ready to receive Palestinian patients evacuated from Gaza via Rafah, authorities said. Also, the Egyptian Red Crescent said it has prepared “safe zones” on the Egyptian side of the crossing to support those displaced from the Gaza Strip.
The Rafah border crossing from Gaza to Egypt will be reopened and although only 150 people are expected to be allowed through each day, it provides a glimmer of hope after years of war.
On Monday, Rajaa Abu Mustafa stood outside a hospital in Gaza where his 17-year-old son, Mohamed, was waiting to be discharged. He was blinded by a shot in the eye last year when he joined desperate Palestinians seeking food from aid trucks east of the town of Khan Younis.
“We are waiting for the crossing to be opened,” he said. “Now it is open and the health department called us and told us that we will go to Egypt [his] treatment.”
Israel has stopped sending patients to hospitals in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem since the start of the war – a move that has cut off what has been a priority for Palestinians in need of medical treatment not available in Gaza.
Israel has also said that Egypt will check people leaving and entering the Rafah crossing, which will be monitored by agents on the border of the European Union with the Palestinian Authority. The number of travelers is expected to increase over time, if the plan is successful.
Fearing that Israel might use the crossing to push the Palestinians out of the area, Egypt has repeatedly said that it must be open for them to enter and exit Gaza. Historically, Israel and Egypt have screened Palestinian applicants for crossing.
A Palestinian toddler was killed by Israeli fire
Violence continued in the coastal area on Monday, and Gaza hospital officials said an Israeli warship fired at a tent sheltering homeless people in the coastal Gaza city of Khan Younis, killing a three-year-old Palestinian boy. The Israeli military said it was closely monitoring the incident.
According to Nasser Hospital, which received the body, the attack took place in Muwasi, a tented area on the Gaza Strip.
More than 520 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the October 10 ceasefire, according to the ministry of health of the region. Those who have died since the ceasefire, UNICEF said included more than 100 children, are among more than 71,700 Palestinians killed since the Israeli offensive began in October 2023, according to the Gaza health ministry, which did not say how many were soldiers or civilians.
The second phase of the cease-fire agreement is more difficult. It calls for the installation of a new Palestinian committee to govern Gaza, the deployment of an international security force, the disarmament of Hamas and the start of reconstruction.
