Israel said on Sunday it had reopened the Rafah crossing connecting Gaza and Egypt but only in a limited capacity, allowing passage solely for Palestinian residents leaving the territory.
Cogat, the Israeli Defence Ministry body co-ordinating Palestinian civilian affairs, described the move as an "initial pilot phase" carried out with support from Egypt and the European Union Border Assistance Mission.
"In accordance with the ceasefire agreement and a directive of the political echelon, the Rafah crossing was opened today for the limited passage of residents only," Cogat said on Sunday.
"The actual passage of residents in both directions will begin upon completion of these preparations."
A number of Palestinians in urgent need of medical treatment abroad are likely to cross into Egypt later on Sunday, sources in Cairo familiar with the process told The National.
However, their departure might be delayed because of lingering differences between Egypt and Israel over the rules governing the passage of travellers in both directions. Egypt is in contact with the US to resolve the differences.
Officials in Gaza say about 20,000 residents are waiting to leave the territory for medical treatment. The sources said as many as 22,000 Palestinians living in Egypt have registered at the Palestine embassy in Cairo to return to Gaza.
Members of a UN-sanctioned Palestinian committee to run Gaza instead of Hamas are scheduled to enter from Egypt on Monday, the sources said. They had been expected to cross on Thursday but the sources did not provide a reason for the delay.
"Their passage tomorrow is virtually certain because the International Stabilisation Force is expected to be deployed next week," said one of the sources.
Israel seized the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing about nine months into the Gaza war, which broke out in October 2023.
Reopening the crossing was a requirement under the first phase of US President Donald Trump's plan to stop fighting between Israel and Hamas, after a ceasefire was agreed on in October.
Israel had said it would reopen the border point only after the body of the last Israeli hostage in Gaza was recovered, which happened on Monday.
Mr Trump's 20-point peace plan called for the Rafah crossing to open for aid to enter “without interference”, and its prolonged closure had been regarded as an unfulfilled element of the deal. There has been no word on when the crossing will reopen for humanitarian aid.
The crossing, on Gaza’s southern border, acts as a lifeline for Palestinians in the territory who, even before the outbreak of the war, depended on at least 600 aid lorries entering each day.
This number dwindled significantly during the two-year conflict. Despite the ceasefire mandating that aid return to prewar figures, an average of 144 lorries a day entered in November and 158 in December.
Aid organisations are also under pressure from Israeli authorities to comply with a new registration process that requires them to provide personal information about their staff. Dozens face having their access to Gaza suspended after rejecting this condition. Israel said on Sunday that the medical charity Doctors Without Borders would not be able to operate in Gaza after February for failing to comply.
The sources said Egypt was dealing with the reopening of the Rafah crossing with maximum caution, fearing Israel might take advantage of the situation to engineer many more departures from Gaza than entries.
Israel has floated a ratio of 200 departures for every 50 arriving, the sources said, and is expected to significantly relax security screening for Palestinians wishing to leave.
Leaving Gaza is an extremely sensitive issue for the strip's estimated two million people, many of whom were forced to leave homes in what is now Israel during and after its creation in 1948, in what Palestinians call the Nakba, or calamity.
As well as a ceasefire, increased aid and the opening of the Rafah crossing, the first phase of Mr Trump's peace plan mandated the release of all hostages held by Hamas in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians detained by Israel, and the withdrawal of Israeli troops to a "yellow line" that left it in control of about 53 per cent of Gaza.
The second phase of the plan includes the condition of handing over the territory's governance to the UN-sanctioned Palestinian committee, the disarmament of Hamas and the deployment of an International Stabilisation Force to maintain security in the strip.
A Board of Peace, chaired by Mr Trump, will oversee the implementation of the plan and the reconstruction of Gaza.
The Gaza war was sparked by a Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, that killed 1,200 people. Israel responded with a military campaign that killed more than 71,000, wounded more than twice that number and destroyed much of the enclave, leaving most of the estimated two million population homeless.
Israel's conduct during the war has drawn accusations of genocide, war crimes and starving Gazans. Israel rejects the accusations.
