After around one month into the Israel-Hamas war, the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt opened this week allowing limited evacuations from the besieged Palestinian territory to Egypt. The Rafah border crossing is likely to reopen again on Friday as Israel’s military has surrounded Gaza City after days of expanding ground operations.
Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip opened for the first time on Wednesday as Israel’s forces bombarded and fought ground battles in the Hamas-ruled territory where thousands of people have died, according to AFP.
By late Wednesday, at least 335 dual nationals and 76 seriously wounded and sick people crossed the border. Egypt has said it eventually plans to help evacuate 7,000 foreigners through Rafah.
The evacuation is a tiny proportion of the 2.4 million people trapped in Gaza under ferocious Israeli bombardment since Hamas launched its bloody cross-border attack into Israel on October 7.
What is the Rafah crossing?
The Rafah border crossing, connecting Gaza with Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, has been seen as the last hope for Gazans to escape Israel’s bombs on the besieged territory.
The border, located at the southern tip of the strip, is the only crossing that isn’t controlled by Israel and allows humanitarian aid as the situation in Gaza worsens. The crossing falls along a 12.8-kilometre fence that separates Gaza from the Sinai desert.
The two other crossings connecting Gaza with Israel – Beit Hanoun, which is for people, and Karem Abu Salem for commercial goods have been shut ever since Hamas attack.
Controlled by Egypt, the border crossing has been the focus of heated international negotiations as the only entry point for relief supplies. The crossing was opened for the first time since the October 7 attack this month after repeated appeals from the international community including the US to persuade Egypt to allow safe passage for all Gaza Palestinians have so far led nowhere.
The deal among Egypt, Israel, and Hamas to partially open the Rafah border crossing was mediated by Qatar.
The border crossing has been used to send humanitarian aid as more than 200 trucks carrying aid crossed into Gaza from Egypt.
Who is Allowed to Cross the Border?
Not everyone who had hoped to cross the Rafah border was allowed to enter Egypt. In the first batch, around 400 foreigners and dual nationals were managed to escape the war to Egypt, along with 60 wounded Palestinians. As per reports, at least 335 dual nationals and 76 injured seriously wounded and sick people crossed the border.
Under the agreement, Egypt will allow the entry of 88 critically injured Palestinians and around 500 foreign nationals, according to the BBC. Israel and Egypt have agreed upon a list of people with foreign passports who can leave Gaza.
While the evacuation from Gaza will be taking place for a limited time, there has been no timeline made available to public.
Why Egypt is Not Allowing Refugees from Gaza?
For the first few weeks of the Israel-Gaza war, the Rafah crossing remained shut leaving Palestinians with no way out of the enclave. Meanwhile, hundreds of Palestinians gathered at the crossing at different times in recent weeks, but they had not been allowed out due to disagreements among Egypt, Israel and Hamas.
Before the first batch of Palestinians, no one was allowed to leave Gaza, except for four hostages released by Hamas.
The World Food Programme has described the situation in Gaza as “catastrophic” due to the lack of food, water, electricity and fuel, and appealed for more aid to be allowed into the territory. Egypt has said it will not accept an influx of Palestinian refugees because of fears Israel will not allow them to return to Gaza after the war.
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