Gaza’s Rafah crossing sees ‘limited’ reopening Israel-Hamas ceasefire, but challenges remain
Restoring the Rafah-Egypt crossing is a vital milestone for the peace process, concluding the long closure enforced by the Israeli military
Gaza’s Rafah border crossing with Egypt reopened on Monday for limited traffic, a key step in the Israeli-Hamas ceasefire but a mostly symbolic development on the ground as few people will be allowed to travel in either direction and no goods will be going into the war-torn territory.
Within the first hour of the opening, no one was actually seen crossing in or out of Gaza. An Egyptian official said 50 Palestinians would cross in each direction on the first day of the crossing’s operation.
About 20,000 Palestinian children and adults needing medical care hope to leave devastated Gaza via the crossing, according to Gaza health officials. Thousands of other Palestinians outside the territory hope to enter and return home.
State-run Egyptian media and an Israeli security official also confirmed the reopening. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the issue.
The EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas said the opening of the Rafah crossing “marks a concrete and positive step in the peace plan,” for the war-battered territory.
“The EU’s civilian mission is on the ground to monitor crossing operations and support Palestinian border guards,” she wrote online.