Just five medical patients leave Gaza after Israel reopens Rafah crossing

Israel has reopened Gaza’s Rafah border crossing with Egypt for limited traffic after almost two years of closure, but only five Palestinian patients were permitted to leave Gaza on the first day, medical sources told Al Jazeera.

The crossing, Gaza’s only exit that does not pass through Israel, reopened on Monday.

A bus carrying 12 Palestinians, the first to enter Gaza through Egypt in nearly 18 months, has also completed the crossing. An Egyptian official had earlier said that 50 Palestinians would cross in each direction on the first day of the crossing’s operation.

A vital entry point for humanitarian supplies and exit for people awaiting medical evacuation, the crossing is being reopened as stipulated under the United States-brokered “ceasefire” to halt Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, which came into effect in October.

However, ⁠Israel and Egypt are expected to impose caps on the number of travellers coming in and out of Gaza, and Israel will ensure intensive security checks on Palestinians entering and exiting.

Reporting from Khan Younis in southern Gaza, Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud said the low number of people who successfully entered on the first day of the crossing’s opening shows the challenges posed by Israel’s intense security screening process.

Earlier on Monday, the first ambulances carrying wounded and sick Palestinian patients from the territory arrived on the Egyptian side of the crossing.

Medical sources had confirmed to Al Jazeera that only five patients were permitted to leave the territory on Monday for medical treatment. Ambulances had waited for hours to ferry patients across the border, with the crossing finally happening after sunset.

An Israeli security official said European monitoring teams have arrived at the crossing, according to the Reuters news agency.

The European Union Border Assistance Mission (EUBAM) will administer the Palestinian side of the crossing, submitting a list of names of people wishing to leave Gaza, along with their final destinations, to the Egyptian side for vetting.

Similarly, the Egyptians will submit a list of names of Palestinians wishing to enter, and they will be given permission the following day if they pass security screening, according to Israeli news reports.

For Palestinians entering Gaza from Egypt, the Israeli army has set up a checkpoint called “Regavim” in an area under its control outside the border zone, according to a statement on the Israeli military’s website.

Soldiers posted at “Regavim” will check the identities of those arriving against lists approved by Israeli intelligence agencies, and will conduct a thorough search of the Palestinians’ belongings.

Desperate need

Israel’s seizure of the Rafah crossing in May 2024, about nine months into its two-year genocidal war on Gaza, cut off an important route for the wounded and sick to receive medical care outside the Palestinian territory.

A few thousand Palestinians have been allowed to leave for treatment in third countries via Israel over the past year, though thousands more need medical care abroad, according to the United Nations.

Al Jazeera’s Mahmoud said there was an atmosphere of “cautious hope for reunification” among family members waiting for loved ones to return from their treatment abroad.

But there is also “acknowledgment of the grim reality that the whole process is highly selective and being restricted by Israeli security measures”, he added.

After Israel announced last week that it would reopen the crossing, a line of ambulances formed on the Egyptian side of the border, awaiting entry to evacuate people.

About 150 hospitals across Egypt are ready to receive Palestinian patients, authorities said. The Egyptian Red Crescent said it has readied “safe spaces” on the Egyptian side of the crossing to support those evacuated.

Palestinian officials say about 100,000 Palestinians have fled Gaza since the war began, most of them during the first nine months.