Rafah Crossing Reopens: A Fragile Lifeline for Gaza After Months of Closure
Gaza’s Rafah crossing with Egypt has reopened after months of closure, allowing limited movement of patients as humanitarian pressure mounts.
After nearly nine months of near-total shutdown, Gaza’s vital Rafah border crossing with Egypt has reopened—offering a limited but deeply symbolic lifeline to Palestinians trapped inside the war-ravaged enclave. The reopening marks the first sustained movement of people through Rafah since May 2024, when Israeli forces seized control of the Gazan side of the crossing.
On Monday morning, ambulances lined up on the Egyptian side as Palestinians began to cross, some leaving Gaza for urgent medical treatment, others returning home after months of displacement. While the reopening brings relief and cautious hope, it also highlights the severe restrictions that continue to shape daily life for Gaza’s population.
A Crossing Reopened—But Under Tight Controls
Israeli officials confirmed that the Rafah crossing is now open “to the movement of residents, for both entry and exit,” following the deployment of teams from the European Union Border Assistance Mission (EUBAM). The crossing is being operated by local Palestinian staff under EU supervision, with Israel conducting remote security checks.
However, movement through Rafah remains extremely limited. According to Israeli reports, only 50 Palestinian patients per day, accompanied by one or two relatives, will be allowed to leave Gaza for medical treatment. In addition, 50 Palestinians who had left Gaza during the war will be permitted to return daily. Crucially, no commercial goods or humanitarian aid are currently allowed to pass through the crossing.
For many Palestinians, Rafah has long represented their only gateway to the outside world. Its partial reopening is being welcomed—but also criticized as insufficient given the scale of humanitarian need inside Gaza.
Medical Crisis Drives Urgency
Local hospitals and the World Health Organization (WHO) estimate that around 20,000 sick and wounded Palestinians are waiting for permission to leave Gaza for treatment abroad. Years of blockade, followed by months of intense conflict, have left Gaza’s healthcare system overwhelmed and under-resourced.
The WHO is overseeing patient transfers, transporting patients from areas under Hamas control by bus across the so-called “Yellow Line” into territory controlled by the Israeli military, before they are cleared to cross into Egypt.
Among those waiting is Sabrine al-Da’ma, a Palestinian mother desperate to save her 16-year-old daughter, Rawa, who suffers from severe kidney disease.
“Before the war, she was monitored with regular scans and tests,” al-Da’ma said. “But because of food shortages and hunger, her condition worsened. Now she needs dialysis.”
Al-Da’ma hopes to donate one of her kidneys to her daughter but fears time is running out. “I am 45 years old,” she said. “If we wait too long, doctors may say I am too old to donate. That’s why we’re rushing.”
Her story echoes thousands of others—families caught between medical urgency and bureaucratic bottlenecks.
Delayed by Politics and Hostage Negotiations
The reopening of Rafah was initially expected to take place during the first phase of a US-backed ceasefire plan proposed by President Donald Trump, which began in October. However, Israel delayed the move, making it conditional on the return of the body of the last Israeli hostage believed to be held in Gaza.
That condition was met last week, when Israeli forces recovered the remains of Master Sgt Ran Gvili, a police officer abducted during Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack on Israel. That attack killed around 1,200 people and saw 251 hostages taken into Gaza.
Following the recovery of Gvili’s remains, Israeli authorities approved a trial opening of Rafah, which was completed over the weekend before Monday’s official reopening.
Egypt’s Role and Regional Coordination
Egypt has played a central role in facilitating the reopening. Egyptian state-linked media reported that Rafah had already received the “first batch of Palestinians returning from Egypt to the Gaza Strip,” describing the move as part of Cairo’s efforts to ease humanitarian pressure.
Egypt had previously resisted reopening the crossing unless movement was allowed in both directions, rejecting proposals that would have turned Rafah into a one-way exit point for Palestinians.
More than 30,000 Gazans have registered with the Palestinian embassy in Cairo, seeking permission to return home—underscoring the massive displacement caused by the conflict.
Rafah’s Diminished Role
Before Israel seized the Gazan side of Rafah in 2024, the crossing served as the primary entry point for humanitarian aid and the main exit route for Palestinians allowed to leave during the war. Today, aid entering from Egypt is redirected through Israel’s Kerem Shalom crossing, further limiting Rafah’s strategic importance.
Trump’s 20-point Gaza peace plan states that Rafah’s reopening should follow mechanisms used in a previous ceasefire agreement in January last year. But on the ground, the current reopening falls far short of restoring Rafah’s former function.
Hope Tempered by Reality
Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, launched in response to the October 2023 attack, has killed more than 71,790 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry. Entire neighborhoods have been destroyed, and basic services remain on the brink of collapse.
Against this backdrop, Rafah’s reopening is both a humanitarian necessity and a political signal. It offers hope to those who desperately need medical care or wish to reunite with family—but it also serves as a reminder of how tightly Gaza’s fate remains controlled.
For now, Rafah is open—but only just. Whether this fragile opening expands into a genuine humanitarian corridor or remains a narrow gate governed by politics will shape Gaza’s next chapter
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