The Rafah Border crossing between Gaza and Egypt has opened for the first time in more than three weeks of brutal conflict between Hamas and the Israelis, to allow for evacuation of dozens of injured Palestinians requiring medical care and hundreds of foreign passport holders trapped in the conflict.
Witnesses at the border on the Gaza side saw scores of people and cars hurrying to get through the gates towards the Egyptian side through the damaged terminal area, some carrying their belongings. Ambulances whisked away the wounded to Egyptian field hospitals, including children with heavy bandaging around injured bodies.
By late Wednesday, at least 335 dual nationals and 76 seriously wounded and sick people had crossed the border, with more expected to follow.
The limited evacuations occurred as Israeli forces continued to bomb the Palestinian enclave from land, sea and air as they pressed their offensive against Hamas militants. Another blast shook Jabalia, Gaza’s largest refugee camp, on Wednesday, a day after Palestinian health officials said an Israeli airstrike killed about 50 people and wounded 150 there, while Israel said it killed a Hamas commander in the attack.
A Jordanian citizen who made it into Egypt, said water and electricity shortages were the least of the hardships people in Gaza were facing. “There were bigger problems such as the bombardment. We were afraid, Many families were martyred,” she told Agence France-Presse.
Those cleared to leave included citizens and dual passport holders from Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Finland, Indonesia, Japan and Jordan, as well as staff members from several aid organisations.
Only a handful of Americans crossed, all employed by international organisations. The US president, Joe Biden, said in a post on X – formerly Twitter – that he “expects to see more depart over the coming days”.
UK Foreign Office said Wednesday that the first group of British nationals had entered Egypt. The foreign secretary, James Cleverly, called the crossing “a hugely important first step”. “We are working with Egyptian and Israeli authorities to ensure the crossing stays open so all British nationals can get to safety in the coming days,” he wrote on the social media platform X.
Not everyone who had hoped to cross was allowed to enter Egypt. Umm Yussef, a dual Palestinian-Egyptian national, told AFP on the Gaza side: “We are overwhelmed … Have mercy on us. We are Egyptians and can’t cross into our country. Let us in. We are exhausted. We can’t sleep or eat.”
The opening of the crossing was negotiated between Egypt, Israel and Hamas in coordination with the US, after the intervention of Qatar, which mediated in the talks.
There was no indication of how long the crossing would remain open, although other openings have been suggested in the coming days. There has been increasing international pressure to open Rafah on humanitarian grounds.
More than 200 trucks carrying desperately needed aid have crossed into Gaza from Egypt, before Wednesday no one had been allowed to flee the battered territory. Foreign governments say there are passport holders from 44 countries, as well as 28 agencies, including UN bodies, living in the Gaza Strip, where 2.4 million people have endured more than three weeks of unrelenting Israeli bombardment since 7 October.