US EditionPalestinians line up to cross Rafah after rocky first day of reopening of Gaza-Egypt border crossing
Rafah crossing reopened under ceasefire for limited medical evacuations and returnees, with fewer than 50 people crossing each way amid strict vetting and logistical challenges.
- On Monday, Israel reopened the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, allowing a limited number of Palestinians to leave and return, with Israeli authorities demanding security checks as European monitoring teams arrived.
- Humanitarian pressure and heavy strikes prompted the reopening after months of lobbying by humanitarian groups, linked to the return of Ran Gvili's remains and a US-brokered ceasefire plan.
- Ambulances began moving patients into Egypt for screening while Egyptian officials expected about 150 to leave and about 50 to enter on day one, amid about 20,000 Palestinian children and adults needing care.
- The limited reopening offered immediate reunions as families of patients at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis reunited, but thousands of Palestinians outside Gaza remain unable to return home.
- Rafah's unique role means the opening has outsized significance as it is Gaza's only crossing not leading into Israel, yet Israeli authorities continue to bar foreign journalists from entering Gaza.
137 Articles
137 Articles
Al-Monitor
Palestinians in Egypt torn on return to a Gaza with 'no future'
As Israel begins to allow a trickle of Palestinians through the Rafah border crossing, Gazans stranded in Egypt are torn between staying in exile without formal status or returning to a land in ruins."Return to Gaza for what? To live in a tent?" demanded Mohamed, a 78-year-old poet from Beit Lahia in northern Gaza."We have not turned our backs on Gaza, we will return. But right now, we cannot go back under these conditions," he told AFP, asking t
Rafah Reopened -- And the Media Erased Why It Was Closed
Key Takeaways: Rafah’s reopening is a security-conditioned ceasefire measure, not a humanitarian gesture, with Israel enforcing strict inspections due to smuggling and terror risks. Media outlets portrayed Rafah as an Israeli choke point while omitting Egypt’s parallel restrictions. By erasing Egypt’s role and Rafah’s history, coverage misleads readers into thinking Israel is arbitrarily “trapping” Gazans rather than managing a long-standing …
Israeli strikes kill 20 more in Gaza, violating US-backed ceasefire again
In the latest violence to undermine the ceasefire in Gaza, health officials said Israeli tank shelling and airstrikes killed 20 Palestinians, including four children, on Wednesday. Among the dead was a medic who rushed to help victims of a strike in the southern city of Khan Younis and was then killed by a second attack on the same location, health officials said. Other strikes hit Gaza City in the north, where health officials said a five-month…
Jan Younis. Dozens of Palestinians lined up yesterday on both sides of the Gaza-Egypt border in the hope of passing through the Rafah crossing, after their long-awaited reopening the previous day was marred by delays, chaos and uncertainty over those who would be allowed to cross; one Palestinian reported, upon their return, that it was “a humiliating journey with “minurious” records.
IDF rejects complaints of first Gazans to return via Rafah crossing
Military says entry procedures were coordinated with Egypt and EU monitors and followed international law. By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News The reopening of the Rafah crossing to limited pedestrian traffic from Egypt sparked controversy almost immediately, as the IDF on Tuesday rejected complaints by the small number of Palestinians who re-entered Gaza the previous day. According to Palestinian and Egyptian sources, only 12 of the 50 Gazans…
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