Patients prepare for medical evacuations as Gaza's border crossing to Egypt reopens

Описание: (2 Feb 2026)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Khan Younis, Gaza Strip - 2 February 2026
1. Various of people waiting to evacuate
2. Various of Mohamed Abu Mustafa and his mother Rajaa Abu Mustafa waiting to evacuate to receive medical treatment
3. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Rajaa Abu Mustafa, waiting to evacuate with her son who needs medical treatment:
"For two years we have been waiting for the crossing to open and now the crossing has opened and the Ministry of Health called us, telling us that we will travel to Egypt in order to complete the treatment. His problem is with his eyes. Now he cannot see with his eyes at all.”
4. Various of Abu Mustafa waiting to leave
5. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Raed al-Nims, Palestinian Red Crescent spokesperson:
"Our crews are fully prepared and ready, whether from field hospitals or ambulance crews equipped to transport patients to the Rafah crossing but, until this moment, since the matter is at the beginning, things are not clear. We are awaiting any lists or any technical details and we will immediately transfer the patients according to the health evacuation protocol.”
6. Various of people waiting near World Health Organisation (WHO) vehicles
7. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ibrahim Abu Suraiya, evacuee seeking medical assistance:
"The evacuation takes a long time and we suffer from a lack of treatments here. There are no high technologies and no devices. They called us to travel and we came based on their call.”
8. Various of officials next to World Health Organisation vehicles
9. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Samar Abu Thuraya, wife of a person waiting to evacuate for medical reasons:
"I am leaving as an escort with my wounded husband, Ibrahim Abu Thuraya. He was injured in his eyes during the war. We were informed by the World Health Organisation to go to Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis to travel to Egypt via the Rafah land crossing.”
10. Person being helped into a vehicle
11. Various of vehicles carrying evacuees seeking medical help leaving
STORYLINE:
Gaza’s Rafah border crossing with Egypt reopened on Monday for limited traffic, a key step in the Israel-Hamas ceasefire but a mostly symbolic development on the ground as few people will be allowed to travel in either direction and no goods will pass through it.

Within the first few hours of the opening, however, no one was seen crossing in or out of Gaza.

An Egyptian official said 50 Palestinians were expected to cross in each direction on the first day of Rafah's operation.

About 20,000 Palestinian children and adults needing medical care hope to leave the devastated Gaza via the crossing, according to Gaza health officials.

Thousands of other Palestinians outside the territory hope to enter and return home.

State-run Egyptian media and an Israeli security official also confirmed the reopening.

The officials spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

Before the war, Rafah was the main crossing for people moving in and out of Gaza.

The territory’s handful of other crossings are all shared with Israel.

Under the terms of the ceasefire, which went into effect in October, Israel’s military controls the area between the Rafah crossing and the zone where most Palestinians live.

Violence still continued across the coastal territory Monday, and Gaza hospital officials said an Israeli navy ship had fired on a tent camp, killing a 3-year-old Palestinian boy. Israel’s military said it was looking into the incident.










Historically, Israel and Egypt have vetted Palestinians applying to cross.



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