The Palestinian Embassy in Cairo announced on Saturday that the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip will be reopened on Monday so that Palestinians who want to return to Gaza can cross the border.
Since May 2024, the Israeli army has been blocking the movement of Palestinians through the Rafah crossing, the only gateway of the territory to the outside world that was not under Tel Aviv’s control before the start of the Israeli war in October 2023.
The embassy’s statement reads: “The Rafah border crossing will be open from Monday to enable Palestinians residing in Egypt who want to return to Gaza to travel, in accordance with the established coordination mechanism.”
The embassy also called on Palestinian citizens in Egypt who want to return to register their information through the designated online application, noting that they will later be informed of the dates and gathering locations before departure toward the Rafah crossing, without further details.
Hamas released 20 living Israeli hostages and handed over the bodies of another 11 in exchange for nearly 2.000 Palestinian prisoners in accordance with the ceasefire agreement.
The agreement between Israel and Hamas was reached last week based on a plan presented by the United States (U.S.) President Donald Trump. The first phase included the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, while the plan also envisages the reconstruction of Gaza and the establishment of a new governing mechanism without Hamas.
Since October 2023, Israel’s genocidal war has killed 68.116 people and injured 170.200 others, the Gaza Ministry of Health announced on Saturday.
