Egypt Receives Second Group of Wounded and Sick From Gaza Through the Rafah Crossing

Vehicles bound for the Gaza Strip at the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. Photo: EFE/EPA/MOHAMED HOSSAM

February 2, 2025 Hour: 1:51 pm

Egypt received the second group of injured and sick people from the Gaza Strip on Sunday through the Rafah crossing, as part of the current ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas.

Throughout the day, 34 injured and sick individuals crossed, along with 63 companions, the Egyptian press center indicated in a brief statement.

According to several news agencies yesterday, the Rafah border crossing, closed since last May when Israel occupied the Palestinian side of Rafah, was reopened for a total of 50 patients, only three adults, and 67 caregivers to receive medical treatment.

Egyptian ambulances entered the newly reopened Rafah border crossing with Gaza today, for the first time since May 2024. They are expected to receive 50 injured militants and 50 wounded civilians, along with the people escorting them, for treatment in Gaza. pic.twitter.com/Imgofa2kf3
— Ariel Oseran أريئل أوسيران (@ariel_oseran) February 1, 2025

The transfer of injured and sick individuals to Egypt, who will later either remain in the Arab nation or move to other countries, is stipulated in the ceasefire, and crossings are expected to occur daily.

The WHO estimates that around 12,000 Gazans need to be evacuated to receive medical treatment, including complex surgeries after being injured during the war, as well as cancer patients.

Since the start of the war in October 2023, about 5,400 patients have been evacuated, most of them before the Rafah crossing was closed and only around 400 afterward through the Israeli border crossing at Kerem Shalom, according to WHO figures prior to the current ceasefire.

Hundreds of Egyptian aid convoys have been sent to the Rafah border, Gaza’s only crossing that does not enter Israel. Negotiations for the second phase of the deal, which calls for a permanent ceasefire, are expected to begin on Monday, February 3rd.