Return of 46 Palestinians to Gaza via Rafah Crossing Amid Strict Restrictions

SadaNews - 46 Palestinians, including women and children, arrived in the Gaza Strip last night, Wednesday, via the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, under strict Israeli restrictions.

Government media sources in Gaza stated that 46 Palestinians arrived at Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis in the southern strip, among them patients who were receiving treatment abroad.

According to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, 47 Palestinians (17 patients and 30 escorts) left the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing yesterday, Wednesday.

On February 2, Israel reopened the Palestinian side of the crossing, which it has occupied since May 2024, in a very limited manner and under extremely strict conditions.

The government media office in Gaza announced yesterday, Wednesday, that only 488 travelers out of 1800 managed to cross the Rafah crossing both ways since its reopening until the day before yesterday, Tuesday, representing an Israeli compliance rate of about 27%.

The office mentioned that 275 travelers managed to leave the strip, while 213 arrived, and 26 were denied exit to Egypt during that period.

According to Egyptian and Israeli media, it was expected that 50 Palestinians would cross into Gaza daily, and a similar number to Egypt, among patients and their escorts, but this has not happened to date.

Palestinian estimates in Gaza indicate that 22,000 wounded and ill individuals need to leave the strip for treatment, due to the catastrophic state of the health sector as a result of the repercussions of the Israeli extermination war.

Semi-official data indicates that about 80,000 Palestinians have registered their names to return to Gaza, which is a clear indication of Palestinians' insistence on rejecting displacement and their adherence to the right of return despite the Israeli destruction.

Before the Israeli extermination war, hundreds of Palestinians used to leave Gaza daily via the crossing to Egypt, and hundreds would return to the strip in a natural flow. The operation mechanism at the crossing was subject to the Ministry of Interior in Gaza and the Egyptian side, without Israeli intervention.

Israel was supposed to reopen the crossing in the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, which took effect on October 10, 2025, but it reneged on that.

The extermination war, which Israel began in the Gaza Strip on October 8, 2023, and continued for two years, left more than 72,000 Palestinian martyrs and over 171,000 wounded, most of whom are children and women, along with destruction affecting 90% of the civil infrastructure.