First group of Palestinians returning from Egypt passes through Rafah crossing

The first group of Palestinians started to re-enter the Gaza Strip through the Rafah border crossing between the coastal territory and Egypt after it reopened for the movement of people.

Palestinians entered Gaza on Monday morning under strict Israeli security oversight and coordination with Egypt, as well as the supervision of the European Union.

The border crossing had begun operating on Sunday on a trial basis after being fully closed for more than 18 months due to an Israeli-imposed blockade.

Around 50 Palestinians are expected to enter Gaza, and some 150 Palestinians, including patients needing medical treatment and their companions, plan to exit Gaza from the border crossing into Egypt.

Another 22,000 Palestinian patients are awaiting the full reopening of the Rafah crossing to get to Egypt to receive medical treatment, according to Gaza’s health officials.

Since May 2024, Israeli regime forces have maintained control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing.

The Israeli regime forces temporarily reopened the vital crossing to allow patients and wounded Palestinians to leave Gaza for treatment abroad during a short ceasefire in January 2025.

However, the Israeli regime forces closed the Rafah crossing again.

The Israeli regime forces were scheduled to hand back the vital border crossing to the Palestinians during the first phase of the US-brokered ceasefire agreement that took effect in October 2025. However, they refused to do so in violation of the agreement.
The Israeli regime has killed about 72,000 Palestinians and wounded more than 171,000, mostly women and children, since launching the genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023.

Also, about 90 percent of the civilian infrastructure in Gaza has been destroyed in the relentless attacks carried out by the Israeli military during this time.

After the ceasefire, the Tel Aviv forces have violated the ceasefire daily, resulting in the killing of 523 more Palestinians.

The brutal zionist regime has also breached the ceasefire agreement by imposing restrictions on the agreed-upon quantities of humanitarian aid allowed to enter Gaza.

This is while Gaza’s 2.4 million population is in dire humanitarian conditions due to the ongoing Israeli blockade and needs international relief to reach the war-torn territory.