Gaza’s border with Egypt is reopening to allow sick and wounded Palestinians to leave the enclave, officials said Friday, after more than eight months during which many were trapped there.
Reopening the crossing at Rafah, which has long been the enclave’s lifeline to the outside world, is a key stipulation of the cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas. Mediators hope that the agreement — which has begun with a 42-day cease-fire and hostage-for-prisoner swaps — will ultimately end the devastating 15-month-long war in Gaza.
As part of the truce, Israel agreed to reopen the Rafah crossing after the release of the remaining living female hostages held by Hamas, which took place on Thursday. Israel committed to allowing up to 50 sick and wounded militants to leave through Rafah per day, in addition to Palestinian women and children who need medical care.
The first group of Gazans to leave was expected to arrive on Saturday after European and Palestinian officials conducted a trial run of the new arrangements at the crossing, according to two European diplomats who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the delicate preparations.
Hamas had overseen the border between Gaza and Egypt since the group took full control of the enclave in 2007, after winning elections in 2006. Israel then seized the crossing in May during its offensive against Hamas in Rafah.
The crossing was being reopened with a new security arrangement between Israel, Egypt, and the internationally backed Palestinian Authority, Hamas’s rival, according to Israeli, Palestinian and European officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive diplomacy.
Israel has resisted the notion that the Palestinian Authority would control postwar Gaza, despite the urging of the Biden administration. President Trump’s vision for the future of the enclave remains unclear.
The office of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, said that the “practical involvement of the Palestinian Authority” would only be “its stamp on the passports.” Israeli forces would remain “positioned around the crossing” and no one would be allowed through without Israeli approval, Mr. Netanyahu’s office said.
Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s top diplomat, said on social media that the European border monitoring mission had deployed at the Rafah crossing on Friday to “support Palestinian border personnel and allow the transfer of individuals out of Gaza.”
Omer Dostri, spokesman for the Israeli prime minister, confirmed that the crossing had been reopened to allow some to leave. No people or commercial goods would be allowed in for the time being, he wrote in a text message.
Israeli forces swept into Rafah last May, capturing the entire border corridor with Egypt, including the crossing. Israel accused Hamas of using its control of the border to smuggle in weapons to arm its forces, vowing not to allow the militants to take over there again.
With the crossing shuttered, Israeli, Egyptian and Palestinian officials held repeated rounds of talks but could not agree on terms to reopen the border. Gazans who had hoped to flee the devastated enclave were mostly trapped inside, although some sick and wounded people were allowed to leave through Israeli territory.