CAIRO: Israel announced on Wednesday that it would let Palestinians to leave Gaza by reopening the Rafah border crossing in the next few days. During the residents of the destroyed strip, who have found it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to leave for most of the war, that may be a significant development.
The announcement has generated expectations that thousands of sick and wounded individuals in Gaza will finally be able to obtain the care they need. The two-year conflict destroyed Gaza’s health infrastructure, making modern medical operations unaffordable.
However, there are issues. First, Israel claims that Palestinians who wish to leave Gaza must obtain security clearance from both Egypt and Israel. What criteria will entail is unknown. Before the war, Rafah bustled with commodities and people passing to and from Egypt and Gaza. Although Gaza has four other border crossings, all are shared with Israel, and only Rafah links the region with another country.
Egypt intensified its restrictions on traffic across the Rafah gate when militants led by Hamas invaded southern Israel in 2023, killing around 1,200 people and kidnapping 251 more. After Israel took custody of the Gaza side in May 2024 as part of its operation that has killed more than 70,100 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, it blocked the border save to the odd medical evacuation.
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