Israel blocks majority of Gazans seeking return home as Rafah crossing reopens
Only 12 of 50 Palestinians were allowed to pass through Israeli checkpoint on Gaza-Egypt border
Palestinians in need of medical treatment outside Gaza, accompanied by relatives, wait to leave through the Rafah border crossing into Egypt on Wednesday. AFP
Most of the Palestinians who sought entry to Gaza on the first day of the Rafah crossing's opening were sent back to the Egyptian side, The National has been told.
Border officials said 38 of the 50 Palestinians who passed from Egypt to Israeli checkpoints in Gaza on Monday were sent back to the Egyptian side around dawn on Tuesday, with instructions to wait for permission to re-enter the enclave.
At the same time, minibuses carrying another group of 50 hopeful Gazans reached the crossing, a border official confirmed. He said that because the reopening deal allowed only 50 people a day to cross into Gaza, some members of the second group would most probably have to wait overnight as well.
According to Egyptian and Palestinian officials at the crossing, only women and children in the first batch were allowed to enter Gaza, while men were turned back to wait on the Egyptian side of the border.
Several of the women allowed into Gaza described a harrowing experience at the border. Rottana Al Ra’ab, 31, who was accompanying her sick mother, said she was searched, handcuffed, and blindfolded by armed men she believes were from a Palestinian gang linked to Israel. She was then questioned by Israeli troops.
“They asked why I came back to Gaza,” she told The National. “They asked if I would leave again if they brought my children. I was terrified they wouldn’t let me return.”
Her mother Sabah, 67, said they were taken to Israeli interrogation points in Rafah. Bags were searched and "we were humiliated", she said. Most of the Palestinians were turned back. “We still don’t know what happened to them,” she added.
“It seems the intention was to send a message to those returning, or those intending to return, that going back to Gaza will not be easy.”
Two-way traffic
Separately, a source at the Red Crescent Hospital in Khan Younis told The National that ambulances carrying 16 wounded Palestinians and 29 companions left early on Tuesday for the Rafah crossing, suggesting a possible increase in two-way movement.
On Monday evening, only five patients and seven companions were able to leave Gaza for medical treatment in Egypt, far fewer than the 50 daily that had been agreed on.
Aid personnel said the process remains controlled and slow, with those cleared for travel vetted and allowed minimal personal belongings.
An Egyptian border official described the situation as “fluid”, adding that co-ordination between Israeli, Egyptian, and Palestinian authorities continues to change.
The crossing has been closed since the Israeli army seized the Palestinian side of Rafah in May 2024. Israel agreed to reopen it, in co-ordination with Egypt and support from the European Union, under the terms of a US-brokered ceasefire that ended two years of war in Gaza in October.
Speaking from the crossing on Monday, Khaled Megawer, the governor of North Sinai province, confirmed that after strenuous negotiations, it was agreed that 50 Palestinians would be allowed to cross into Gaza each day, while 150, comprising 50 patients and up to two companions with each, would be allowed to depart.
Lamia Rabee, 27, from Khan Younis, was one of those who boarded a bus to Gaza. She had left in February last year with her husband, hoping Cairo would offer him a chance at treatment, but he died there.
She said border officials on the Egyptian side "treated us with respect". But after being welcomed by Palestinian embassy staff and a European delegation on the other side, they had their belongings searched and men were sent back to Egypt.
By nightfall, Lamia and her children were transferred again, this time toward Israeli checkpoints. Documents were checked. Some women were taken aside for questioning. Lamia, traveling with two children, waited on the bus. At nearly 11pm, they were finally allowed to leave the checkpoint.
Her home in Khan Younis is destroyed partially. Like many people returning, she now lives in temporary shelter. “It’s destroyed,” she said. “But it’s home.”
Meanwhile, Ali Shaath, chief commissioner of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, said on Monday that registration mechanisms and priority lists would soon be announced “to ensure transparency and equal access” for Palestinians wishing to cross.
He described the reopening as “the beginning of a long process that restores connection and opens a true window of hope” for Gaza’s residents after two years of war.
Mr Shaath, a Palestinian technocrat and civil engineer who was appointed to head the committee last month, said the step was a “collaborative achievement” supported by international partners and an essential part of a 20-point Gaza plan announced by US President Donald Trump.
Mr Megawer visited parts of North Sinai province on Monday, including the border facilities and New Rafah City, a residential and infrastructure development project about seven kilometres from the frontier.
He said more than 1,300 residents had now moved into homes built for families displaced by security operations in Sinai.
The committee’s emblem on Mr Shaath’s statement caused an angry reaction from Israel because it resembles the Palestinian Authority's logo.
“Israel will not accept the use of the Palestinian Authority’s symbol, and the PA will not be a partner in the administration of Gaza,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said.
He said the committee’s logo shown to Israel earlier was entirely different.
Mr Megawer stressed that the development of North Sinai served both security and economic goals, in line with the national strategy to stabilise the province after years of fighting ISIS insurgents, while reaffirming Egypt’s categorical rejection of any Palestinian resettlement on its territory.
“The matter of displacement has been settled and Egypt took a firm stance,” he told reporters at the crossing.
As operations at Rafah continue under tight restrictions, officials say procedures remain under constant review.
Both Egypt and Israel maintain security checks and daily limits on the number of travellers, while humanitarian agencies continue to call for expanded access for patients, students, and families separated by the war.
Mr Megawer noted that while reopening the crossing was a significant step, the more challenging phase of the ceasefire agreement was still ahead, involving the entry of peacekeeping forces, the start of Gaza’s reconstruction, and measures to strip armed groups of their weapons.
“We are now entering the delicate stage and may God aid us in these efforts,” he said.