Gaza’s Rafah border crossing with Egypt reopened to limited traffic on Monday, a key step in the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, but a largely symbolic development on the ground, as few people will be allowed to travel in either direction and no goods will enter the war-torn area.

Within the first few hours of the opening, no one was actually seen entering or leaving Gaza. Still, the reopening is seen as a key step as a US-brokered ceasefire agreement that took effect on October 10 moves into its second phase.

The truce halted more than two years of war between Israel and Hamas, which began with a Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Its first phase called for the exchange of all hostages held in Gaza for hundreds of Palestinians held by Israel, an increase in much-needed humanitarian aid and a partial withdrawal of Israeli troops.

Israeli troops seized the Rafah crossing in May 2024, calling it part of an effort to combat arms smuggling to the Hamas militant group. The crossing was briefly opened to evacuate medical patients during a ceasefire in early 2025. Israel has resisted reopening the Rafah crossing, but the recovery of the remains of the last hostage in Gaza has cleared the way for progress.

About 20,000 Palestinian children and adults in need of medical care are hoping to leave devastated Gaza through the crossing, according to Gaza health officials. Thousands of other Palestinians outside the territory hope to enter and return home.

Egyptian state media and an Israeli security official also confirmed the reopening. The officials spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss the matter.

Egypt is preparing to receive war wounded

Before the war, Rafah was the main crossing point for people going in and out of Gaza. It shares a handful of other crossings in that territory with Israel. Under the terms of the ceasefire, the Israeli army controls the area between the Rafah crossing and the zone where most Palestinians live.

About 150 hospitals across Egypt are ready to receive Palestinian patients evacuated from Gaza via the Rafah, authorities said. Also, the Egyptian Red Crescent said it had prepared “safe spaces” on the Egyptian side of the crossing to support those evacuated from the Gaza Strip.

WATCH | A glimmer of hope for some who need treatment:

The key Rafah crossing from Gaza will reopen

The Rafah border crossing from Gaza to Egypt is set to reopen and although only 150 people are expected to be released each day, it offers a glimmer of hope after years of war.

On Monday, Rajaa Abu Mustafa stood outside a hospital in Gaza where her 17-year-old son Mohamed was awaiting evacuation. He was blinded by a gunshot to the eye last year while joining desperate Palestinians seeking food from aid trucks east of the town of Khan Younis.

“We were waiting for the crossing to open,” she said. “He is now open and the health ministry called and told us we will be traveling to Egypt for (his) treatment.”

Since the beginning of the war, Israel has banned patients from being sent to hospitals in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem – a move that cut off what had previously been the main outlet for Palestinians needing medical treatment unavailable in Gaza.

Israel said that, and Egypt will check people for exit and entry through the Rafah crossing, which will be monitored by European Union border patrol agents with a small Palestinian presence. Passenger numbers are expected to increase over time if the system is successful.

Fearing that Israel could use the crossing to push Palestinians out of the enclave, Egypt has repeatedly said it must be open for them to enter and leave Gaza. Historically, Israel and Egypt have vetted Palestinians who applied to cross.

Palestinian child killed by Israeli fire

Violence continued across the coastal area on Monday, with Gaza hospital officials saying an Israeli navy ship fired on a tent camp sheltering displaced people on the shores of the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, killing a three-year-old Palestinian boy. The Israeli military said it was investigating the incident.

According to Nasser Hospital, which received the body, the attack took place in Muwasi, an area of ​​a tent camp on the coast of the Gaza Strip.

More than 520 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the October 10 ceasefire, according to the Strip’s health ministry. Ceasefire casualties, which UNICEF says include more than 100 children, are among more than 71,700 Palestinians killed since the Israeli offensive began in October 2023, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which did not say how many were combatants or civilians.

The second phase of the ceasefire agreement is more complicated. It calls for the establishment of a new Palestinian committee to govern Gaza, the deployment of international security forces, the disarmament of Hamas and steps to begin reconstruction.