Extract from ABC News
Palestinian patients board a vehicle in Khan Younis on their way to the Rafah crossing. (AP: Abdel Kareem Hana)
In short:
Gaza's key Rafah border crossing with Egypt has reopened, with officials expecting 50 Palestinians to cross in each direction on the first day of the operation.
Israeli forces seized control of the crossing in May 2024 and it has remained largely closed since.
Authorities in Egypt say 150 hospitals and 300 ambulances have been prepared to receive Palestinian patients.
Gaza's Rafah border crossing with Egypt has reopened for a limited number of people on foot.
An Egyptian official said 50 Palestinians were expected to cross in each direction on Monday, local time, the first day of the operation.
About 20,000 Palestinian children and adults needing medical care hope to leave Gaza via the crossing, according to Gaza health officials.
Thousands of other Palestinians outside the territory hope to enter and return home.
Fifty Palestinians are expected to cross in each direction on the first day of the operation. (AP: Abdel Kareem Hana)
Before the war, Rafah was the main crossing for people moving in and out of Gaza. The territory's handful of other crossings are all shared with Israel.
Under the terms of the ceasefire, which went into effect in October, Israel's military controls the area between the Rafah crossing and the zone where most Palestinians live.
Violence continued across the coastal territory on Monday, and Gaza hospital officials said an Israeli navy ship had fired on a tent camp, killing a 3-year-old Palestinian boy.
Israel's military said it was looking into the incident.
Egypt prepares to receive the war-wounded
About 150 hospitals across Egypt are ready to receive Palestinian patients evacuated from Gaza through Rafah, authorities said.
Also, the Egyptian Red Crescent said it had readied "safe spaces" on the Egyptian side of the crossing to support those evacuated from the Gaza Strip.
Israel has said it and Egypt will vet people for exit and entry through the Rafah crossing, which will be supervised by European Union border patrol agents with a small Palestinian presence.
The numbers of travellers is expected to increase over time, if the system is successful.
Rafah's opening represents ceasefire progress
Israeli troops seized the Rafah crossing in May 2024, calling it part of efforts to combat arms-smuggling for the militant Hamas group. The crossing was briefly opened for the evacuation of medical patients during a ceasefire in early 2025.
Israel had resisted reopening the Rafah crossing, but the recovery of the remains of the last hostage in Gaza cleared the way to move forward.
A UN vehicle escorts a bus carrying Palestinian patients as they head to the Rafah crossing. (AP: Abdel Kareem Hana)
The reopening is seen as a key step as the US-brokered ceasefire agreement moves into its second phase.
Oxfam policy lead Bushra Khalidi said the opening was "significant and long overdue" but it remained to be seen if aid and humanitarian assistance would make it to Palestinians in need.
"It's too early to call it good news, we've seen too many openings in the past two years that existed on paper but collapsed in practice," she told ABC's The World.
"The details will determine if this is meaningful or symbolic."
"Until crossings are open consistently, predictably, and at scale, people in Gaza are one decision away from being trapped again."
In time, Rafah is expected to ramp up operations if the ceasefire holds.
The truce halted more than two years of war between Israel and Hamas that began with the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
Its first phase called for the exchange of all hostages held in Gaza for hundreds of Palestinians held by Israel, an increase in badly needed humanitarian aid and a partial pullback of Israeli troops.
The second phase of the ceasefire deal is more complicated. It calls for installing the new Palestinian committee to govern Gaza, deploying an international security force, disarming Hamas and taking steps to begin rebuilding.
US envoy Witkoff to visit Israel
US President Donald Trump's senior envoy, Steve Witkoff, is expected to visit Israel for meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel's military chief, two senior Israeli officials said on Monday.
The officials said Mr Witkoff's visit to the country was expected to begin on Tuesday, local time.
It comes amid heightened regional tensions with Iran, and as the Trump administration presses ahead with its plan to end the Gaza war.
AP/Reuters
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