A construction crane enters through the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip in northeastern Egypt on February 1, 2026. Photo : AFP
According to Al-Qahera News, Egyptian preparations have intensified to ensure smooth procedures and provide the necessary humanitarian support to Palestinian injured and patients arriving for treatment in Egyptian hospitals, with ambulances lined up in the main courtyard.
All logistical and medical measures are being taken urgently. Arrivals undergo immediate medical screening through designated lanes allocated by the crossing’s administration, after which cases are transferred to quarantine areas designated by the health ministry, with fully equipped medical teams from various specialties on site.
The crossing, Gaza’s main gateway to the outside world, also received a new group of Palestinians returning from Egypt to Gaza. Egyptian authorities adopt facilitated procedures to ease the return of Palestinians, particularly patients and wounded who had left Gaza for Egypt during the war, in preparation for their return to their homes.
Homecoming turns into a harrowing event
On the other hand, while many hoped that Israel’s reopening of the Palestinian side of the crossing would bring relief to the war-torn strip, for the first few Palestinians allowed to cross, it proved more harrowing than a homecoming.
Three women who entered Gaza on Monday told The Associated Press that Israeli troops blindfolded, handcuffed, and held them for several hours before being released. They said the abuse took place at a screening station on the edge of an Israeli-controlled area of Gaza that all returnees are required to pass through after crossing Rafah.
At the station, members of the Israel-backed armed gang Abu Shabab searched their bags and bodies, then Israeli officers called them one by one into a room, questioning them about Hamas, the war, and other things in Gaza.
The delayed Rafah crossing’s reopening from the Palestinian side, closed by Israel since May 2024, is part of the implementation of the Gaza ceasefire deal, brokered by Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, and the US in October of last year.
On a bloody note, the Israeli airstrikes on Gaza continued on Wednesday, killing 21, mostly women and children, raising the death toll among Palestinians to 530 and the number of wounded to nearly 1,500 since the truce took place.
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