The Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza reopened Monday for the first time in nearly two years, allowing a small number of Palestinians to both enter and exit the territory as part of a U.S.-backed ceasefire to end Israel’s war with Hamas.
It was not immediately clear how many Palestinians crossed the border Monday, but the opening appeared largely symbolic: Only about a dozen people traveled each way, according to a European official with knowledge of the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the crossing.
The European Union has deployed an observer force to monitor the crossing, along with Palestinian, Egyptian and Israeli authorities. “It was a very difficult day,” the official said. “It was not an easy first day of operation.”
The Israeli military seized the border in May 2024 as it swept through Rafah in southern Gaza, displacing nearly 1 million people who had sought refuge there. It then closed the crossing to pedestrian and other traffic, trapping Gaza’s roughly 2 million people — including those who were severely sick or injured — for the majority of the war.
Among the roughly two dozen people who traveled Monday were five patients and their companions, according to Munir al-Bursh, director general of the Gaza Health Ministry, who said he received instruction from the World Health Organization that the individuals were approved.
More than 20,000 Palestinians are on a waiting list for medical treatment abroad, given the state of Gaza’s decimated health care system, according to Zaher al-Wahidi, head of the records department at the Gaza Health Ministry. Some patients have died waiting for treatment, doctors and aid workers say.
“The reopening of the Rafah crossing is a necessary step, but it is far too long overdue,” Fikr Shalltoot, the Gaza director at Medical Aid for Palestinians, a Britain-based charity, said in a statement.
“Lives were undoubtedly lost because this crossing remained closed for so long,” she said. “Every day of delay meant children dying of hypothermia because of a lack of adequate shelter, patients denied lifesaving treatment and hospitals pushed closer to collapse.”
Israel stalled in reopening Rafah after the ceasefire took effect in October, saying it wanted to ensure that Hamas returned the remains of the hostages it took during the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israeli communities. Last week, Israel recovered the remains of the last hostage held in Gaza, police officer Rani Gvili.
Still, Israeli officials have argued that the military must maintain its presence in the border area to prevent Hamas from rearming. Israel says the group has used the area as a key conduit for the transfer of weapons and funds to militants from Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.
Egypt has denied the claims, insisting it keeps tight control of the border and has worked to prevent smuggling. For years, Palestinians used tunnels under the Egypt-Gaza border at Rafah to circumvent an economic blockade.
Israel has said that it will vet Palestinians for entry and exit from Gaza and that strict security protocols will be in place at the crossing. Israeli authorities told U.N. officials that only residents who left Gaza during the war would be allowed to return, after prior security clearance by Israel, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Residents will also be subject to E.U. screening at the crossing and “a second identification and screening process in a designated corridor operated by the Israeli military in an area under Israeli army’s control,” OCHA said.
The partial reopening of Rafah is welcome, U.N. humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said on social media. “But this is not enough — it must function as [a] real humanitarian corridor so we can surge lifesaving help,” he said.
Its reopening should also pave the way for a more complex phase of the ceasefire agreement, one that would include negotiations to demilitarize Hamas, as well as the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. Under the agreement, an “international stabilization force” is also supposed to deploy to Gaza to oversee training of Palestinian police — but so far, no country has formally signed on to send troops.
At the same time, Israeli attacks have continued, including Saturday, when the military killed 32 people in strikes across Gaza. Since the ceasefire, Israeli forces have killed 526 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. In total, the Israeli campaign has caused the deaths of nearly 72,000 Palestinians and injured more than 170,000.
Some Palestinians were still hopeful they would receive treatment abroad.
“I believed I might never be able to leave Gaza,” said Ahmed Mahmoud al-Bursh, a 31-year-old father of three who was injured twice in separate strikes. “When I heard that the crossing had reopened, I was extremely happy. I felt some hope.”
Gerry Shih contributed to this report.
correctionThe headline on a previous version of this article incorrectly said that the Rafah border crossing is between Egypt and Israel. It is between Egypt and Gaza.
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