Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
gateway to the world Palestinian exist Gaza — Rafah crossing point Egypt – has been largely closed since the occupation and will reopen on Sunday Israel May 2024.
The reopening, announced by Israel on Friday as part of the second phase of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire, raises hope for thousands of war-wounded Palestinians seeking medical treatment abroad and tens of thousands more outside Gaza seeking to return home. However, only a handful of people were allowed through at first.
Officials said the crossing would initially operate under strict controls, with Israeli, Egyptian and EU personnel overseeing new arrangements that would allow only dozens of Palestinians to pass through each day and no goods.
Here’s what you need to know:
Crossing open on Sunday
COGAT, the Israeli military agency responsible for coordinating aid to Gaza, said in a statement that “only limited movement of people” would be allowed through the Rafah crossing starting Sunday.
The statement follows a statement from the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Newly appointed Ali Shaath is in charge of the Palestinian Administrative Council that manages day-to-day affairs in Gaza, which may soon be established.
“The opening of Rafah signals that Gaza is no longer closed to the future and the world,” Sasse said in a video posted by the White House on X on January 22.
The announcement of Shaath’s pledge follows the United States’ pressure on Israel and Hamas to enter the second phase of the ceasefire. The remains of the last hostage in Gaza were recovered this week, completing a key part of the first phase.
Shaath and the new Palestinian Council remained in Cairo, entering Gaza through Rafah without Israeli authorization.
Netanyahu says people, not goods, will be crossing borders
Preparations are underway for a limited number of medical evacuees to leave Gaza first. That’s a significant shift from before the war, when most people exited through Israel, according to the World Health Organization.
There are conflicting reports on how many people can cross the border each day. An Israeli official, who requested anonymity in line with the agreement, said earlier this week that 50 Palestinians would be allowed in and 50 out of the country each day. Another person familiar with the matter said that 50 people will be allowed in and 150 people will be allowed to leave each day.
Either that or it means long waits for many of the estimated 20,000 sick and wounded people the territory’s health ministry says need treatment outside Gaza. At an evacuation rate of 50 people per day, it will take more than a year to evacuate them all.
In the past, priority groups for evacuation have mainly been children, cancer patients and people who have suffered physical trauma. Most receive treatment in Egypt.
Medical evacuees are often escorted out of Gaza. Each evacuee may be allowed two escorts, people familiar with the matter said.
Meanwhile, at least 30,000 Palestinians have registered with the Palestinian Embassy in Cairo to return to Gaza, according to an embassy official who spoke on condition of anonymity because details of the reopening are still being discussed.
Israel will control who comes in and out
A complex network of countries and agencies will oversee the Rafah crossing, including Egypt, the Palestinian Authority and the EU delegation, but Israel has the power to control who enters or leaves.
COGAT said Israel and Egypt would screen Palestinian entry and exit, although the crossing itself would be overseen by European border patrol agents. Those who fled during the war and were purged by Israel may return.
Under the terms of the ceasefire, Israeli forces control the area between the Rafah crossing and most Palestinian areas. An Israeli official said COGAT would provide bus service for Palestinians to and from the crossing. The official spoke on condition of anonymity under protocol.
At the edge of the zone, Palestinians heading to the crossing will undergo additional checks, COGAT said on Friday. In the past, such inspections were conducted by Israeli soldiers and U.S. private contractors.
“Anyone coming in or out will be inspected by us, fully inspected,” Netanyahu said on Tuesday.
Officials from the EU Border Assistance Mission and the Palestinian Authority will manage the crossing. Palestinian officials told The Associated Press that plainclothes Palestinian Authority officials will stamp the passports, as they did during a brief ceasefire in early 2025 and before Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007.
Netanyahu appeared to acknowledge that members of the Palestinian factions that have historically ruled Gaza could play a role, noting that most bureaucrats have a history of working for Hamas or the Palestinian Authority.
How Rafa worked before the war
Even before the war, Palestinians faced severe restrictions.
In 2022, the United Nations recorded more than 133,000 entries and 144,000 exits through Rafah, although many of these involved the same individuals crossing the border multiple times. Egyptian authorities allow imports 150 days a year, with more than 32,000 truckloads of goods entering.
Restrictions have always accompanied politics in the region. After Hamas seized power in Gaza in 2007, Egypt joined Israel in imposing a blockade. Egypt reopened the crossing after its 2011 revolution but closed it after the military ousted Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammed Morsi. The Muslim Brotherhood is the birthplace of Hamas.
Over the next few years, Egypt gradually allowed the Rafah crossing to reopen, but intermittent restrictions led to a massive tunnel economy springing up beneath it. Israeli and Egyptian officials say the tunnel is Gaza’s economic lifeline and a conduit for weapons and cash. Hamas levies tens of millions of dollars in taxes and duties each month on goods passing through the crossing.
Other details remain unclear
It is unclear when trucks will be allowed through the Rafah crossing, what Palestinians will be allowed to carry and how long a day will be capped for entry and exit.
This is a source of great uncertainty for humanitarian organizations seeking to deliver further aid to devastated Gaza, where groups have long reported severe shortages of medical supplies, fuel and other basic needs.
U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Wednesday that the U.N. wanted the crossing to be open for “humanitarian and private sector cargo, which is critical to reviving Gaza’s economy.”
Ramiz Arakbarov, deputy UN coordinator for the Middle East, told a UN Security Council meeting that humanitarian workers faced “delays and denials of cargo at crossing points and limited routes to transport supplies within Gaza.”
Netanyahu said he was focused on disarming Hamas, a challenging part of the ceasefire’s second phase, and destroying its remaining tunnels. He said reconstruction of Gaza would be impossible without demilitarization, a position that could make Israel’s control of the Rafah crossing a key leverage point.
___
Associated Press writer Samy Magdy in Cairo and correspondent Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed.
___
For more AP coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war