Rafah crossing to open soon to let Gazans cross into Egypt, Israel says

Gaza's main gateway will open in the next few days, Israel said on Wednesday, allowing thousands of Palestinians who are in need of medical care to leave the war-ravaged enclave through Egypt.

COGAT, the Israeli military arm that oversees humanitarian matters, said the opening of the Rafah crossing will be coordinated with Egypt, under the supervision of the European Union mission, similar to a mechanism employed during a previous Gaza ceasefire agreed in January 2025.

Under US President Donald Trump's 20-point plan that has largely halted the two-year war between Israel and Hamas militants, the crossing was to open in both directions.

THOUSANDS OF PALESTINIANS WAITING FOR TREATMENT

Before the war, the Rafah crossing was the only direct exit point for most Palestinians in Gaza to reach the outside world and was a key entry point for aid into the territory. It has been mostly closed throughout the conflict.

At least 16,500 patients in Gaza are in need of medical care outside of the enclave, according to the United Nations. Some Gazans managed to leave for medical treatment abroad through Israel.

"We have been waiting for the Rafah opening for months," said Gaza businessman Tamer al-Burai, who needs treatment abroad for a respiratory condition. "At last, I and thousands of other patients, may have a chance to receive proper treatment," Burai told Reuters by phone from Gaza.

Israel has kept Rafah shut in both directions since the ceasefire came into effect in October, saying that Hamas must abide by the agreement to return all hostages still in Gaza, living and deceased.

Hamas has returned all 20 living hostages in exchange for around 2,000 Palestinian detainees and convicted prisoners, but two more deceased captives - an Israeli police officer and a Thai agricultural worker - are still in Gaza.

Islamic Jihad, a Palestinian militant group allied with Hamas which had also held some of the hostages taken in the Oct 7, 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the war, said on Wednesday that it was searching together with the Red Cross for the body of one of the remaining deceased captives.

The Islamic Jihad announcement came a day after Hamas handed over remains it said were of one of the two deceased hostages, but which were found to not belong to either of them following forensic tests in Israel.

Handing over all the hostages was a central tenet of the first phase of the ceasefire. Major obstacles lie ahead of the next phase, including the question of Hamas disarming, Israel's withdrawal from Gaza, governance of the enclave and international security arrangements.