Israel Has Finally Reopened The Rafah Border Crossing But Only Partially After 2 Years Of Genocide

Israel has reopened the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt for a limited number of people on foot for the first time since shutting it in May 2024.

Before Oct. 7, 2023, the Rafah crossing was the only way to exit Gaza for most Palestinians and had been the “lifeblood” for the small amounts of aid entering Gaza during Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

In May 2024, Israel launched a full-blown invasion of Rafah, forcing more than 1.4 million Palestinians to evacuate and then closed the Rafah border.

The border crossing was supposed to reopen as part of the first phase of the “ceasefire” between Israel and Hamas, which began on Oct. 10, 2025, but Israel blocked it until the body of the last hostage taken from Israel was recovered on Jan. 26.

On Monday, Feb. 2, Israel then opened the border as a trial to allow ”the movement of residents in both directions, entry and exit to and from Gaza,” according to the Israeli military agency (COGAT).

The reopening will begin under a “pilot phase,” with movement limited to a small number of Palestinians on foot and subject to Israeli and Egyptian approval, according to COGAT.

Under the current arrangement, priority will be given to patients seeking urgent medical care abroad and their accompanying relatives, after months in which thousands of sick and injured Palestinians were unable to leave Gaza for care.

Officials said the number of people allowed to cross will be strictly capped, with only 50 patients – accompanied by two relatives – allowed to leave each day, while only about 50 people will be permitted to return to Gaza again.

This would allow some of the more than 100,000 Palestinians who were able to escape Israel’s genocide to return home to Gaza.

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