First medical evacuees leave Gaza for Egypt as Rafah crossing reopens

Medical evacuees from Gaza entered Egypt on Monday as the Rafah border crossing reopened, marking a key step in the Israel-Hamas ceasefire but a mostly symbolic one.

Few people will be allowed to travel in either direction and no goods will pass through.

Ambulances waited for hours at the border before ferrying patients across after sunset, Egypt’s state-run Al-Qahera News satellite television channel showed. The crossing had been closed since Israeli troops seized it in May 2024.

About 20,000 Palestinian children and adults needing medical care hope to leave the devastated territory via the crossing, according to Gaza health officials. Thousands of other Palestinians outside the territory hope to enter and return home.

The number of travellers is expected to increase over time if the system is successful. Israel has said it and Egypt will vet people for exit and entry.

The office of the North Sinai governor confirmed that the first Palestinian patient crossed into Egypt.

Before the war, Rafah was the main crossing for people moving in and out of Gaza. The territory’s handful of other crossings are all shared with Israel.

Under the terms of the ceasefire, which went into effect in October, Israel’s military controls the area between the Rafah crossing and the zone where most Palestinians live.

Violence continued across the coastal territory on Monday, and Gaza hospital officials said an Israeli navy ship had fired on a tent camp, killing a three-year-old Palestinian boy. Israel’s military said it was looking into the incident.

Israel had resisted reopening the Rafah crossing, but the recovery of the remains of the last hostage in Gaza cleared the way to move forward.

The reopening is seen as a key step as the US-brokered ceasefire agreement moves into its second phase.

The truce halted more than two years of war between Israel and Hamas that began with the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7 2023.

Its first phase called for the exchange of all hostages held in Gaza for hundreds of Palestinians held by Israel, an increase in badly needed humanitarian aid and a partial pullback of Israeli troops.

The second phase of the ceasefire deal is more complicated. It calls for installing the new Palestinian committee to govern Gaza, deploying an international security force, disarming Hamas and taking steps to begin rebuilding.