Ikram Kouachi
31 January 2025•Update: 01 February 2025
- Palestinian Health Ministry confirms crossing to open on Saturday for 1st batch of wounded people to leave Gaza
ANKARA
North Sinai Governor Khaled Megawer announced on Friday that the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza will open on Friday to transport injured people once the Palestinian side is prepared.
In a statement to Anadolu, Megawer also confirmed that aid trucks will continue entering Gaza through the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing before being redirected to the Kerem Shalom and Nitzana crossings.
The North Sinai Governor said the Egyptian Health Ministry is “ready to receive wounded” Palestinians from Gaza through the Rafah crossing. He did not, however, say how many will travel on the first day of its opening.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Health Ministry confirmed on Friday that the crossing would open on Saturday for the first batch of wounded people to leave Gaza.
It added that their travel is planned in collaboration with the World Health Organization.
The Rafah crossing, a vital route for humanitarian aid into Gaza, has been closed since May 2024 after Israel’s ground offensive in the southern city of Rafah.
On Jan. 19, a ceasefire agreement and prisoner exchange between Hamas and Israel went into effect, initially lasting 42 days, during which negotiations will continue for subsequent phases of the deal. The agreement is mediated by Egypt and Qatar, with support from the US.
Israel’s genocidal war has killed more than 47,400 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and injured more than 111,000 since Oct. 7, 2023.
The Israeli onslaught on Gaza has left more than 11,000 people missing, with widespread destruction and a humanitarian crisis that has claimed the lives of many elderly people and children in one of the worst global humanitarian disasters ever.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November last year for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
