Gaza’s Rafah border crossing with Egypt was bustling with activity on Sunday as Israel said it would reopen after years of limited travel and near-total isolation in the region. Reopening the border crossing is an important step as the Israel-Hamas ceasefire moves forward.
Rafah, which Palestinians see as their gateway to the world, has been largely closed since it was captured by Israel in May 2024. (AP)Israel announced on Sunday that the crossing had been opened in a test. COGAT, the Israeli military agency that controls aid to Gaza, said in a statement that the crossing was being actively prepared for full operation, adding that Gazans would begin passing through the crossing once the preparations were complete.
Palestinian security officials passed through the Egyptian gates of the crossing and headed to the Palestinian gates to join an EU mission that will oversee exits and entries, said an Egyptian official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. Ambulances also passed through the Egyptian gate, the official added.
The head of the new Palestinian Administrative Committee, which runs Gaza’s day-to-day affairs, said travel in both directions would begin on Monday.
Rafah, which Palestinians see as their gateway to the world, has been largely closed since it was captured by Israel in May 2024.
More Read
At first very few people will be allowed in, and no goods will be allowed to cross. About 20,000 Palestinian children and adults in need of medical care are hoping to leave war-torn Gaza through the crossing, and thousands of other Palestinians outside the territory hope to return to the country.
Jaher al-Wahidi, head of the documentation department at the Ministry of Health in Gaza, told The Associated Press that the ministry had not yet been notified of the start of the medical evacuation.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would allow 50 patients a day to leave. An official involved in the talks, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss diplomatic negotiations, said each patient would be allowed to travel with two relatives, and about 50 people who left Gaza during the war would be allowed to return each day.
More Read
Israel said it would check people leaving and entering Egypt through the crossing, which would be overseen by EU border patrol agents. If the system is successful, the number of travelers is expected to increase over time.
In May 2024, Israeli troops seized and closed the Rafah crossing, calling it part of an effort to combat arms smuggling by Hamas. The crossing was briefly opened to evacuate medical patients during the ceasefire in early 2025. Israel has resisted reopening the Rafah crossing, but the recovery of the remains of the last hostages in Gaza last week cleared the way.
The resumption is an important step as it moves into its second phase of last year’s US-brokered ceasefire agreement, which took effect on October 10.
Before the war, Rafah was the main crossing into and out of Gaza. Although Gaza has four other border crossings, they are shared with Israel. Under the terms of the cease-fire, the Israeli military controls the area between the Rafah crossing and areas where most Palestinians live.
Fearing that Israel could use the crossing to force Palestinians out of the enclave, Egypt has repeatedly said it must remain open for both entry and exit from Gaza. Historically, Israel and Egypt have vetted Palestinian applications to cross.
The current cease-fire halts more than two years of fighting between Israel and Hamas that began on October 7, 2023, with a Hamas-led offensive in southern Israel. The first phase of the truce called for the exchange of all hostages held in Gaza for the hundreds of Palestinians held by Israel, a badly needed increase in humanitarian aid and a partial withdrawal of Israeli aid.
The second step is more complicated. It called for the establishment of a new Palestinian committee to govern Gaza, the deployment of an international security force, the disarmament of Hamas and steps to begin reconstruction.