40 more patients evacuated from Gaza via Rafah crossing under strict Israeli restrictions

Although Israeli and Egyptian media had previously reported that up to 50 Palestinians would be allowed to cross the terminal daily in each direction, the numbers have fallen far short. Since the reopening began, only limited groups have crossed in both directions.

Under Israeli conditions, only Palestinians who left Gaza after the outbreak of the war are permitted to return, following intensive security screening.

Returnees, including elderly people and children, have reported undergoing harsh Israeli military interrogations, while stressing their attachment to their land and rejection of displacement.

Before the Israeli war, hundreds of Palestinians crossed Rafah daily in both directions under normal procedures overseen by Gaza’s Interior Ministry and Egyptian authorities, without Israeli involvement.

Israel was supposed to reopen the crossing during the first phase of a ceasefire that took effect on October 10, 2025, but failed to do so.

The Israeli offensive that began in October 2023 killed over 72,000 Palestinians and wounding more than 171,000 others, while destroying about 90 percent of Gaza’s infrastructure.

Despite an October 10, 2024, ceasefire, the Israeli army has continued to violate it, killing 581 Palestinians and wounding 1,553 others, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.