Cairo — Medical evacuees from Gaza entered Egypt on Monday as the Rafah border crossing reopened, marking a major step in a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas but mostly symbolic. Only a small number of people will be allowed to travel in either direction and no goods will pass through.
Egyptian satellite news channel Cairo showed that ambulances waited for hours at the border before transporting patients after sunset. The crossing has been closed since Israeli forces took control of it in May 2024.
About 20,000 Palestinian children and adults in need of medical care hope to leave the devastated area through the crossing, according to Gaza health officials. Thousands of other Palestinians outside the Strip hope to enter and return to their homes.
The number of passengers is expected to increase over time if the system is successful. Israel has said this and Egypt will examine people upon exit and entry.
The North Sinai Governor’s Office confirmed the crossing of the first Palestinian patient into Egypt.
Before the war, Rafah was the main crossing point for people entering and leaving Gaza. The other set of crossings in the area are shared with Israel. Under the terms of the ceasefire, which took effect in October, the Israeli army controls the area between the Rafah crossing and the area where most Palestinians live.
Violence continued across the coastal enclave on Monday, and officials at a Gaza hospital said an Israeli naval ship fired on a camp, killing a 3-year-old Palestinian boy. The Israeli army said it was investigating the incident.
Egypt is preparing to receive the wounded
Raja Abu Mustafa stood Monday outside a hospital in Gaza where her 17-year-old son, Mohammed, was waiting for evacuation. He was shot in the eye last year when he joined desperate Palestinians searching for food from aid trucks east of the southern city of Khan Yunis.
She said: “We were waiting for the crossing to open.” He added, “Now it has been opened and the Ministry of Health contacted us and told us that we would travel to Egypt to receive treatment.”
The authorities said that about 150 hospitals across Egypt are ready to receive Palestinian patients evacuated from Gaza through the Rafah crossing. The Egyptian Red Crescent said it had prepared “safe spaces” on the Egyptian side of the crossing to support people evacuated from Gaza.
Israel has banned sending patients to hospitals in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem since the war began, cutting off what had previously been the main outlet for Palestinians needing medical treatment not available in Gaza.
The Rafah crossing will be supervised by European Union border guard officers, with a limited Palestinian presence.
Historically, Israel and Egypt have screened Palestinians applying to cross. Fearing that Israel would use the crossing to expel Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, Egypt has repeatedly said that it must be open for them to enter and exit Gaza.
A Palestinian child was killed by Israeli fire
A 3-year-old Palestinian child was killed when the Israeli navy bombed tents housing displaced people in Khan Yunis, according to Palestinian hospital authorities.
According to Nasser Hospital, which received the body, the attack occurred in the Al-Mawasi area, a camp area on the Gaza coast.
More than 520 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the ceasefire came into effect on October 10, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. The victims since the ceasefire are among more than 71,800 Palestinians killed since the start of the Israeli attack, according to the ministry, which did not mention the number of fighters or civilians.
The ministry, part of the Hamas-led government in Gaza, maintains detailed records of casualties that UN agencies and independent experts consider generally reliable.
The opening of the Rafah crossing represents progress in the ceasefire
Israeli forces took control of the Rafah crossing in May 2024, describing it as part of efforts to combat arms smuggling for the armed Hamas movement. The crossing was briefly opened for the evacuation of patients during a ceasefire in early 2025.
Israel has resisted reopening the Rafah crossing, but the recovery of the remains of the last hostage in Gaza has paved the way forward.
The reopening is seen as a major step as the US-brokered ceasefire agreement moves into its second phase.
The truce halted the more than two-year-old war between Israel and Hamas that began with the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Its first phase called for the exchange of all hostages held in Gaza in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians held by Israel, an increase in much-needed humanitarian aid and a partial withdrawal of Israeli forces.
The second phase of the ceasefire agreement is more complex. The resolution calls for the formation of a new Palestinian committee to govern Gaza, the deployment of an international security force, the disarmament of Hamas, and taking steps to begin rebuilding.
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