The Rafah border crossing with Egypt in the Gaza Strip reopened on Monday with limited traffic. This is an important step in the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, but it has become largely symbolic, as little movement is allowed in either direction and no goods are allowed to pass through.

Egyptian officials said 50 Palestinians were expected to cross in each direction on the first day of Operation Rafah. For the first few hours after its opening, no one was seen entering or leaving Gaza.

Gaza health officials say around 20,000 Palestinian children and adults in need of medical care are hoping to leave the devastated territory through the border. Thousands of other Palestinians outside the territory hope to enter the country and return home.

Egyptian state media and Israeli security officials also confirmed the reopening. The officials spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Before the war, Rafah was a major crossing point for people entering and leaving Gaza. Several other borders within the territory are all shared with Israel. Under the terms of a cease-fire that took effect in October, Israeli forces control the area between the Rafah crossing and areas inhabited by mostly Palestinians.

Egypt prepares to accept war wounded

On Monday, Rajah Abu Mustafa stood outside a hospital in Gaza where his 17-year-old son, Mohammed, was waiting to be evacuated. He was shot in the eye and blinded last year when he joined desperate Palestinians seeking food from an aid truck east of the city of Khan Younis.

“We were waiting for the railroad crossing to open,” she said. “Now that it’s open, I got a call from the Ministry of Health and they said I was going to travel to Egypt. [his] process. “

Officials say around 150 hospitals across Egypt are ready to receive Palestinian patients evacuated from Gaza via Rafah. The Egyptian Red Crescent also said it had prepared a “safe space” on the Egyptian side of the crossing to assist people evacuated from the Gaza Strip.

Since the war began, Israel has banned patients from being sent to hospitals in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, a move that cuts off a major source of treatment for Palestinians who need treatment not available in Gaza.

Israel announced this and Egypt will scrutinize the entry and exit of people through the Rafah border, which will be supervised by European Union border guards with a small Palestinian presence. If this system is successful, the number of travelers is expected to increase over time.

Egypt has repeatedly insisted that Gaza must be open to Palestinians, concerned that Israel could use the crossing to force Palestinians out of the enclave. Historically, Israel and Egypt have scrutinized Palestinians applying to come to the United States.

Israeli forces occupied the Rafah crossing in May 2024 as part of efforts to combat arms smuggling by the Hamas militant group. This intersection was temporarily opened for the evacuation of medical patients during the ceasefire in early 2025. Israel had resisted reopening the Rafah crossing, but the recovery of the remains of Gaza’s last hostage cleared the way forward.

Palestinian infant dies in Israeli fire

Violence continued across the coast on Monday, with Gaza hospital officials saying an Israeli navy ship opened fire on a tent camp sheltering displaced people on the coast of the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, killing a 3-year-old Palestinian boy. The Israeli military said it was investigating the incident.

According to Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies, the attack took place in Mwasi, a tent camp on the Gaza Strip coast.

More than 520 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli shelling since the October 10 ceasefire, according to the Israeli Health Ministry. The casualties since the ceasefire include more than 100 children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, who are among the more than 71,700 Palestinians killed since the Israeli offensive began in October 2023, although it does not say how many of them were fighters or civilians.

The second phase of the ceasefire agreement is more complicated. It calls for the creation of a new Palestinian commission to govern Gaza, the deployment of international security forces, the disarmament of Hamas, and steps to begin reconstruction.