The Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt has reopened for restricted visitors, ending an virtually two-year closure, officers mentioned on Monday.
Rafah is Gaza’s solely border crossing not managed by Israel and serves as a vital gateway for humanitarian support, medical evacuations, and civilian journey. Its reopening is a part of a United States-brokered ceasefire settlement that halted preventing between Israel and Hamas in October.
Motion by way of the crossing will stay tightly restricted. Israel and Egypt are anticipated to impose every day caps on vacationers, whereas Israel will oversee in depth safety screenings of Palestinians coming into and leaving Gaza.
In accordance with Israeli officers, European monitoring groups have arrived on the crossing. The European Union Border Help Mission (EUBAM) will handle the Palestinian facet, submitting lists of vacationers and their locations to Egyptian authorities for safety vetting.
Egyptian officers will likewise submit lists of Palestinians in search of to enter Gaza, with approvals granted following safety checks. An Egyptian official mentioned 50 Palestinians could be allowed to cross in every route on the primary day of operations, in accordance with the Related Press.
The Israeli military has established a checkpoint often known as “Regavim” close to the crossing, the place Israeli forces will confirm identities towards intelligence-approved lists and conduct thorough searches of private belongings.
Israel seized management of the Rafah crossing in Might 2024, reducing off an important route for Palestinians in want of pressing medical care overseas. Whereas a number of thousand sufferers have been allowed to go away Gaza for therapy through Israel over the previous yr, the United Nations says many extra nonetheless require medical evacuation.
