Gaza's Rafah Crossing Reopens After Nine Months of Closure
Finn's Take· TL;DR- Rafah crossing reopens after nine months, allowing 50 daily medical evacuations and limited returns under ceasefire agreement terms.
- About 20,000 Palestinian children and adults need medical care; crossing reopening stipulated in US-brokered October ceasefire's second phase.
- Crossing represents critical stability test; success could enable broader humanitarian access and reconstruction, while failure signals deeper peace process challenges.
Limited Medical Evacuations Begin
Gaza's Rafah border crossing with Egypt formally reopened on Monday after being largely shut since Israel seized it in May 2024 . Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel will allow 50 patients needing medical evacuation to leave daily , while each patient can travel with two relatives, while 50 people who left Gaza during the war can return each day .
About 20,000 Palestinian children and adults needing medical care are hoping to leave war-devastated Gaza via the crossing . Over the past 15 months, the war in Gaza sparked by the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, has decimated the Strip's health sector, leaving most of its hospitals out of operation . Egyptian television showed Palestinian Red Cross ambulances pulling up to the crossing gate, and children were brought out on stretchers and transferred to ambulances on the Egyptian side .
The reopening that for now at least is largely symbolic. Few people will be allowed to travel in either direction, and no goods will be allowed to enter . Israel has said it and Egypt will vet people for exit and entry through the crossing, which will be supervised by European Union border patrol agents .
Ceasefire Progress and Strategic Importance
The crossing's reopening is stipulated under the United States-brokered "ceasefire" that halted the war between Israel and Hamas in October . The reopening is a key step as last year's US-brokered ceasefire agreement, which took effect on October 10, moves into its second phase . Israel had resisted reopening the Rafah crossing again, but the recovery of the remains of the last hostage in Gaza last week cleared the way to move forward .
Before the war, Rafah was the main crossing for people moving in and out of Gaza . The crossing – linking the Palestinian enclave with Egypt, Gaza's only border passage that does not lead to Israel – represents Palestinians' primary connection to the outside world beyond Israeli-controlled territory.
Fearing that Israel could use the crossing to push Palestinians out of the enclave, Egypt has repeatedly said it must be open for them to enter and exit Gaza . Under the ceasefire terms, Israel's military controls the area between the Rafah crossing and the zone where most Palestinians live .
Complex Second Phase Challenges
The second phase is more complicated. It calls for installing the new Palestinian committee to govern Gaza, deploying an international security force, disarming Hamas and taking steps to begin rebuilding . The number of travelers is expected to increase over time if the system is successful .
The ceasefire halted more than two years of war between Israel and Hamas that began with a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostages . Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed 71,795 Palestinians, including 523 since this ceasefire started, according to Gaza's Health Ministry .
The crossing's reopening represents a critical test of whether the fragile ceasefire can evolve into lasting stability. Success in managing these limited crossings could pave the way for broader humanitarian access and eventual reconstruction efforts, while failure might signal deeper challenges ahead for the peace process. The international community watches closely as this vital lifeline slowly returns to operation after months of devastating isolation.