A small number of sick and wounded Palestinians started crossing into Egypt for medical treatment after Israel allowed a limited reopening of the Rafah border post, a fragile step in wider diplomatic efforts to stabilise the conflict.
Egyptian officials initially said about 150 people were due to leave Gaza and 50 to enter on the first day, more than 20 months after Israeli forces sealed the crossing. By nightfall, Reuters reported that Israel had permitted 12 Palestinians to return to Gaza, while 38 others had not cleared Israeli security and remained on the Egyptian side. Israel also allowed five patients to travel into Egypt, each escorted by two relatives, bringing the total number moving in and out to 27 according to Palestinian and Egyptian sources. Palestinian officials blamed the delays on Israeli security checks; Israel’s military did not comment immediately.
Footage from Egyptian state television showed ambulances waiting for hours at the border before ferrying patients after sunset. Israel took control of Rafah in May 2024, sealing a key route for medical care, travel and trade; the crossing had opened only briefly during a ceasefire in early 2025 for evacuations. Movement through Rafah after this partial reopening will be subject to joint Israeli-Egyptian security screening, and for now only a small fraction of Gaza’s tens of thousands of wounded and ill will be allowed to leave each day.
Gaza health authorities estimate about 20,000 children and adults need medical care and hope to exit via Rafah, and thousands of Palestinians who left during earlier fighting want to return. Thousands of civilians have registered with the World Health Organization (WHO) for medical evacuation; Médecins Sans Frontières reports more than one in five of those are children. The sick list includes over 11,000 cancer patients. The territory’s healthcare system has been severely damaged by the conflict: in March 2025 Israel struck and destroyed Gaza’s only specialised cancer hospital, forcing oncologists to work in improvised clinics with minimal resources. Gaza officials say roughly 4,000 people with official referrals for overseas treatment have been unable to cross.
Some patients have died while waiting for permission to leave. Dalia Abu Kashef, 28, died last week while awaiting approval for a liver transplant; her husband told Reuters they had found a volunteer donor but were unable to secure timely passage. The WHO says about 900 people, including children and cancer patients, have died while awaiting evacuation.
The reopening also gives families a rare chance to reunite after more than two years of war. Many who fled to Cairo early in the conflict did not expect to stay so long; before the crossing was shut, roughly 100,000 Palestinians had exited to Egypt through Rafah. Mohammad Talal, a 28-year-old trader whose home in Jabalia was destroyed, said he loves Gaza and sees no other place that feels like home.
Israel has said it seized control of Rafah to prevent weapons smuggling by Hamas, a move that isolated Gaza and cut off vital lifelines. Until now Israel had linked reopening the crossing to the return of hostages taken during the Hamas-led assault of 7 October 2023; that position shifted after the Israeli military said it had recovered the remains of the final captive, Ran Gvili.
The partial reopening is viewed as an important step as the US-brokered ceasefire agreement moves into its second phase. The first phase included a hostage exchange, increased humanitarian aid and a partial Israeli troop pullback. The second phase envisages forming a new Palestinian committee to administer Gaza, deploying an international security force, disarming Hamas and beginning reconstruction — a more complicated and uncertain process.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called the Rafah opening “a concrete and positive step” in the peace plan and said the EU’s civilian mission is on the ground to monitor operations and support Palestinian border guards. Gaza’s National Committee for the Administration of Gaza described the move as a symbolic first step toward reconnecting what has been torn apart and opening a “genuine window of hope.”
Despite the reopening, the ceasefire remains fragile. Four months on, the agreement has often produced temporary pauses rather than lasting calm. Airstrikes and gunfire have eased at times but not stopped, and storms have added to the suffering by causing deaths and flooding in overcrowded displacement camps. Local health officials said Israeli airstrikes on Saturday killed at least 32 people, including children; the Israeli military said it targeted militants and weapons infrastructure. Since the ceasefire began in early October, local figures report that Israeli forces have killed at least 509 Palestinians and wounded 1,405 more, including many children.
International reporting from Gaza remains limited because Israel continues to bar foreign journalists from entering; most international coverage is produced by journalists already in the territory, many of whom have been killed since the war began.