Forty-one Palestinians — including women and children — arrived in the Gaza Strip on the seventh day of the limited reopening of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, amid strict Israeli restrictions.
اضافة اعلان
Sources at the Government Media Office in Gaza told Anadolu Agency that the 41 Palestinians arrived Tuesday evening at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, including patients who had been receiving medical treatment abroad.
Earlier Tuesday, 50 Palestinians (19 patients and 31 companions) departed Gaza through the Rafah crossing, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society.
On February 2, Israel reopened the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing, which it has occupied since May 2024, in a very limited capacity and under tight restrictions.
The Government Media Office in Gaza stated Tuesday that only 397 travelers out of 1,600 were able to cross the Rafah border in both directions during the week since its reopening — reflecting an Israeli compliance rate of approximately 25 percent.
According to the office, 225 travelers were able to leave Gaza, while 172 entered, and 26 were turned back during that period. The office did not specify the reference used to determine the total expected number of travelers.
Egyptian and Hebrew media had previously reported that 50 Palestinians were expected to cross daily into Gaza and 50 into Egypt — patients and their companions — but this has not materialized.
Palestinian estimates indicate that around 22,000 wounded and sick individuals need to leave Gaza for medical treatment due to the catastrophic condition of the healthcare sector following the repercussions of the Israeli war.
Semi-official data also indicate that approximately 80,000 Palestinians have registered to return to Gaza, underscoring their determination to reject displacement and insist on returning despite widespread destruction.
Before the war, hundreds of Palestinians crossed daily through Rafah into Egypt and hundreds returned in a routine movement managed by Gaza’s Interior Ministry and the Egyptian side, without Israeli involvement.
Israel was expected to reopen the crossing during the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, which took effect on October 10, 2025, but did not follow through.
The war that began on October 8, 2023 and lasted two years has resulted in more than 72,000 Palestinian deaths and over 171,000 injuries, most of them women and children, along with the destruction of 90 percent of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure.
