For nearly two years, Palestinians have been barred from returning to Gaza, watching in anguish as Israel’s bombing campaign against Hamas left whole neighborhoods in ruins and killed tens of thousands of people.
But late Monday night, 12 Gaza residents were allowed back into the devastated territory after Israel and Egypt opened the Rafah border crossing, according to the Hamas-run interior ministry in Gaza.
The small number of returnees were reunited with their families, but their journey also carried symbolic weight. Coming home, several returnees said, was a rejection of any schemes to permanently displace them outside of the territory.
“No to expulsion,” said Huda Abu Abed, 56, who returned after leaving in March for medical treatment. “Nobody wants to leave their country.”
The opening of the Rafah crossing was part of a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas in October. Israel had refused to open the crossing in both directions until all of the living hostages held by Hamas and all bodies of the deceased had been returned to Israel.
The last remains, those of Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, a member of the Israeli police, were recovered by Israel last week.
In the initial months of the war, the Rafah crossing was a lifeline for Palestinians trying to escape the war or seeking medical treatment abroad. But Israel took over the crossing in May 2024 when its forces moved into Rafah, the southernmost city in Gaza.
For most of the 21 months since Israel took over, the crossing had been kept closed. The last time it temporarily opened was at the beginning of 2025, during a monthslong cease-fire.
On Monday, some ill Palestinians were allowed to leave Gaza through the Rafah crossing for treatment. A total of eight people left, including their caregivers, the interior ministry said.
About 20,000 people need to be evacuated for medical treatment, the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said last week.
Abu Bakr Bashir and Iyad Abuheweila contributed reporting to this article.
Adam Rasgon is a reporter for The Times in Jerusalem, covering Israeli and Palestinian affairs.
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