Gaza (QNN)- Only 488 Palestinians have crossed the Rafah border between Gaza and Egypt in both directions since Israel partially reopened it last week for limited traffic under heavy restrictions and monitoring, violating Trump’s so-called “ceasefire”.
Gaza’s Government Media Office said on Wednesday 488 Palestinians, out of an expected 1,800, have crossed the Rafah border crossing in both directions since it was reopened.
What We Know
On February 2, Israel reopened the Rafah Crossing for limited passage of residents after more than 20 months of closure.
On the first day of the Rafah crossing’s reopening, twelve Palestinians entered Gaza through the crossing in a 20-hour journey and strict Israeli restrictions. Also, only five Palestinian patients in critical condition were permitted by Israel to leave Gaza.
Dr. Muhammad Abu Salmiya, director of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, said that there are 450 patients in critical condition and in need of immediate treatment outside the Gaza Strip.
He said, “We want clear mechanisms for the exit of patients and the injured from Gaza for treatment.”
Health authorities said at least 1,268 people have died in Gaza while waiting for medical transfer after the crossing was closed by Israel.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health warned that there are critical medical cases in urgent need of immediate evacuation through the Rafah Crossing, as their lives are at serious risk.
Abu Salmiya said there were 20,000 patients in the territory, including 4,500 children, in urgent need of treatment.
The Ministry added around 6,000 injured people require urgent transfer to receive medical treatment. It added that the current evacuation system is extremely slow and could take years to clear the backlog of patients and wounded.
According to the Ministry, evacuating at least 500 patients per day is necessary to alleviate their suffering.
Health authorities have also warned that the number of deaths among those waiting for medical transfer will rise soon unless more Palestinians are allowed to exit immediately.
“We’re still losing lives every day. Allowing only 50 patients out of Gaza each day is not proper. This dynamic is very dire and we’re going to lose more lives,” Abu Salmiya said.
The reason the mass evacuations are needed is because Israel’s military “entirely destroyed” Gaza’s health system, said Abu Salmiya.
“Hospitals are working at the minimum of medical supplies and personnel. Israel continues to deny the entry of supplies, ambulances, and volunteer doctors. We are unable to treat patients here and preventing their exit is a death warrant issued against them. It's a premeditated murder designed by the Israeli occupation forces.
Zaher al-Wahidi, spokesperson for the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza, said the process at the Rafah crossing is “too complex” and ineffective.
“This will not allow us to evacuate patients and provide medical services to them to give them a chance at life,” al-Wahidi said.
“At this rate, we would need years to evacuate all of these patients, by which time all of them could lose their lives while waiting for an opportunity to leave,” al-Wahidi said.
He estimated 10 people die this way every day that the Rafah crossing is closed or operating at the current levels.
Not only does Gaza’s border with Egypt need to fully open but so do all other “pathways for patients”, said Tarik Jasarevic, a spokesperson for the World Health Organization.
“We know the most time-efficient and cost-efficient referral pathways are through to the West Bank and East Jerusalem, where there are medical facilities ready to receive patients,” Jasarevic said.
“We have been calling for the opening of all crossings throughout the war,” he added.
While thousands of patients in Gaza need security clearances from Israeli authorities to leave the enclave for treatment, countries around the world also need to step forward and accept wounded and ill Palestinians after more than two years of devastation, Jasarevic said.
For Palestinians in Gaza, the Rafah crossing had long been the only connection to the outside world, a lifeline for Gaza.
Israeli forces occupied the Palestinian side of the crossing in May 2024, destroying its buildings, preventing travel and causing a severe humanitarian crisis, especially for patients. They deployed soldiers in a military buffer zone all across the Philadelphi Corridor, where they remain today.
Trump’s Ceasefire
The first phase of Trump’s Gaza ceasefire 20-point plan, which took effect in October to end Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, had called for Israel to let humanitarian aid into the territory and open “the Rafah crossing in both directions”.
However, Israel has violated the agreement and continued to close it along with killing hundreds of civilians and blocking much-needed aid. Israel also continues to occupy over 50 percent of Gaza.
There have been reports that Israel plans to restrict the number of Palestinians entering the Gaza Strip through the Rafah border crossing, ensuring that more people are allowed out than in.
Israeli officials have repeatedly called for the forcible displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, the occupation of the enclave, and the construction of illegal settlements. Palestinians fear that such plans for the Rafah crossing amid Israel control are intended to expel them permanently, or that those who leave even temporarily could be prevented from returning.
Israeli Restrictions and Monitoring
Israeli state broadcaster Kan reported that the crossing would be open for about six hours daily.
Also, the Israeli army has set up a military checkpoint for Palestinians entering Gaza from Egypt and called it the “Regavim” corridor. The checkpoint is under the purview of Israeli security services and located in an area under military control outside the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt.
Israel’s military spokesperson said soldiers will check identities of those arriving against lists approved by Israeli intelligence agencies and will conduct a thorough search of their belongings.
Only after passing through the Rafah crossing and then Israeli screening will those returning to Gaza be permitted to continue into the besieged enclave.
However, unlike the entry of Palestinians to Gaza, Israel will only supervise the exit of Palestinians from Gaza to Egypt remotely from a control room using facial recognition software.
Palestinians who returned to the Gaza Strip over the past days via the Rafah crossing described a humiliating process, hours of delays and invasive searches by Israeli forces and Israeli-backed militias, as they were blindfolded, interrogated, and abused.
One woman, Rotana Al-Raqab, declared, “No to displacement,” adding that Israel intends to allow more Palestinians to leave Gaza than to enter.
Others said they were intercepted by Israeli-backed militias near Rafah city in the south of the Gaza Strip where gangs are actively operating under the cover of the Israeli military. The militias have asked returnees to provide them with information about Palestinian factions in Gaza.
“They detained us, blindfolded us, and tied us up,” she said, referring to how Israeli forces treated her, her mother, and another woman who were allowed to enter Gaza.
“They started asking us questions about things we know nothing about. They wanted to take me as a detainee, and they told another woman with us that they wanted to make her a collaborator.”
She said the interrogation covered everything, including Hamas and migration. “They want to deprive us of our children. They don’t want us to return to Gaza. They don’t want large numbers to return, they want large numbers to leave.”
Recalling the harsh moments she endured outside Gaza, the woman said: “Death, death, death. No one leaves Gaza. No to displacement.”
Palestinian Sabah Al-Raqab, who returned with her five daughters, also recounted a similar humiliating process: She was beaten, humiliated, and subjected to invasive body searches along with three other women by the Israeli-backed Abu Shabab gang at a checkpoint in the Morag area near Rafah. “They splashed water on our faces, handcuffed us, and subjected us to insults and verbal abuse.”
The gang confiscated their personal belongings and interrogated them for hours about “people we do not know, threatening us with death and detention.”
Two Israeli patrols escorted the return bus from the Rafah Crossing and handed them over to the Abu Shabab checkpoint, she added.
Out of six buses, only one was allowed to enter Gaza, while the remaining buses were turned back from the Egyptian terminal, she said.
“The return journey was a piece of hellish torment; yet despite everything, there is nothing better than one’s homeland.”
"We need you to be our eyes and ears,” Israeli forces told her.
Their journey from Egypt through the frontier post and across the “yellow line” zone controlled by Israel and an allied Palestinian militia group, involved lengthy delays and the confiscation of gifts, including toys, one of the women said.
“It was a journey of horror, humiliation and oppression,” 56-year-old Huda Abu Abed told the Reuters news agency by phone from the tent her family is living in at Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
Samira Said described the lengthy return process as “very difficult”.
“They searched all of our belongings, especially at Israeli checkpoints. We were searched several times,” she said.
Here is a recap published by the Gaza Media Office tracking the number of Palestinians who crossed the Rafah border in both directions between February 2 and February 10:
Restrictions negotiated by Israeli, Egyptian, Palestinian and international officials mean that only 50 people will be allowed to return to Gaza each day and 50 medical patients — with two companions for each — will be allowed to leave, but far fewer people have crossed so far.
According to the Media Office data:
- Monday, February 2, 2026:
Departures: 20 travelers — 5 patients and 15 companions.
Arrivals: 12 — including 9 women and 3 children.
- Tuesday, February 3, 2026:
Departures: 40 travelers — 16 patients and 24 companions.
Returned/Denied Travel: 26 travelers were prevented from departing.
Arrivals: 26 returnees to Gaza.
- Wednesday, February 4, 2026:
Departures: 47 travelers — 16 patients and 31 companions.
Arrivals: 25 returnees to Gaza.
- Thursday, February 5, 2026:
Departures: 28 travelers — 7 patients and 21 companions.
Arrivals: 25 returnees to Gaza.
- Friday, February 6, 2026: Crossing closed.
- Saturday, February 7, 2026: Crossing closed.
- Sunday, February 8, 2026:
Departures: 50 travelers — 19 patients and 31 companions.
Arrivals: 44 returnees.
- Monday, February 9, 2026:
Departures: 40 travelers — 20 patients and 20 companions.
Arrivals: 40 returnees.
- Tuesday, February 10, 2026:
Departures: 50 travelers — 19 patients and 31 companions.
Arrivals: 41 returnees.
- Total:
275 departures.
213 arrivals.
26 denied/returned travelers.
A total of 488 travelers crossed out of 1,800 expected to travel through the Rafah land crossing in both directions, representing an implementation rate of approximately 27%.
