The first group of Palestinians expected to return to Gaza from Egypt arrived at the Rafah border crossing on Monday, as the crossing partially reopened for the first time in months, marking a significant development following the implementation of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire that halted the war in October.<\/p>\n
Footage from the Egyptian side of the border showed ambulances and microbuses lined up and waiting to cross, signaling the gradual restoration of a critical transit point between Gaza and the outside world.<\/p>\n
Egyptian and Israeli security officials confirmed that the reopening would initially allow limited traffic, with an Egyptian official saying approximately 50 Palestinians would be permitted to cross in each direction on the first day.<\/p>\n
The Rafah crossing, Gaza\u2019s only gateway not directly controlled by Israel, had been closed after Israeli forces seized the area in May 2024, nine months into the conflict. The move cut off a vital lifeline for wounded and critically ill Palestinians seeking medical treatment abroad.<\/p>\n
While Israel has allowed several thousand Palestinians to exit Gaza over the past year via its own crossings, the United Nations says many thousands more still urgently require specialized medical care outside the besieged territory.<\/p>\n
Humanitarian organizations describe the partial reopening as a crucial first step toward restoring medical evacuations, family reunification and aid flows, though they warn that current arrangements fall far short of the scale of need.<\/p>\n
The reopening of Rafah is a central condition of the ceasefire agreement and is expected to expand in phases if the truce holds, raising cautious hopes among Palestinians that movement in and out of Gaza could gradually resume after months of near-total isolation.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The first group of Palestinians expected to return to Gaza from Egypt arrived at the Rafah border crossing on Monday, as the crossing partially reopened for the first time in months, marking a significant development following the implementation of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire that halted the war in October. Footage from the Egyptian side of the<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15087,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"twitter_1160854738579181570_1160854738579181570":"","facebook_3558452337540614_100649324928663":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,28],"tags":[1296,1498,456,1020,981,2825,451,2824],"class_list":{"0":"post-15086","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-general-news","8":"category-middle-east","9":"tag-ceasefire","10":"tag-egypt","11":"tag-gaza","12":"tag-humanitarian-crisis","13":"tag-israel","14":"tag-medical-evacuations","15":"tag-middle-east","16":"tag-rafah-crossing"},"yoast_head":"\n