The resumption of work in a strictly limited pilot phase on Sunday followed months of appeals by humanitarian groups.
Israel’s state-run Khan TV reported that about 150 people were expected to leave Gaza for Egypt on Monday, including 50 patients. The report states that about 50 people are expected to enter the territory.
Khan reported that the crossing will be open for about six hours a day.
AFP footage from Sunday showed ambulances lined up on the Egyptian side preparing to receive evacuated patients, who are expected to be the first group to be allowed out.
An official at the Hamas-ruled Gaza health ministry said about 200 patients were awaiting permission to leave the territory.
– The Rafah crossing is a salvation – said Mohammed Nassir, a Palestinian whose leg was amputated after being wounded at the beginning of the war.
– I have to undergo an operation that is not available in Gaza, but can be performed abroad – he said.
Rafah is seen as a key entry point for aid into Gaza, where humanitarian conditions remain dire after two years of war despite a ceasefire that has been in place since October 10.
The crossing has been closed since Israeli forces took control of it in May 2024 during the war with Hamas, except for a brief and limited reopening in early 2025.
COGAT, the Israeli Defense Ministry body that coordinates Palestinian civilian affairs, made no mention of allowing the long-awaited aid surge, saying only that the passage of individuals “in both directions” was expected to begin on Monday.
Egypt’s state-affiliated Cairo News reported that the Egyptian side of the crossing would remain open “24 hours a day” and that Egyptian hospitals were ready to receive patients coming from Gaza.
(Vijesti.ba / FENA)
