The movement of Palestinians leaving Gaza via Rafah crossing has remained limited since the crossing was partially reopened with Egypt earlier this month, with around 180 people departing the enclave, according to officials and medical sources.
\nRafah is Gaza\u2019s only outlet to the outside world that does not pass through Israel, giving its operation particular humanitarian significance.
\nThe crossing reopened on February 2 after being closed for nearly two years, following Israeli control of the area during the war with Hamas, amid severe humanitarian and health conditions in Gaza.<\/p>\n
Ismail al-Thawabta, head of the Hamas-run government media office in Gaza, said 135 Palestinians left the territory between Monday and Thursday, most of them patients and their accompanying relatives.
\nHe noted that official figures show \u201cextremely limited\u201d travel since the reopening, adding that the crossing was closed on Friday and Saturday.<\/p>\n
The Palestinian Red Crescent also confirmed that 135 residents exited Gaza through Rafah between February 2 and 5.<\/p>\n
Mohammad Abu Salmiya, director of Al-Shifa Medical Complex, told AFP that 44 more people left Gaza for Egypt on Sunday, including 19 patients, with the remainder accompanying them.
\nAmong those preparing to travel was Raja Abu al-Jidyan, who said her son was wounded during the war and requires the removal of a metal plate from his leg to prevent further medical complications.<\/p>\n
During the same period, 88 people returned to Gaza from Egypt after the crossing reopened, according to al-Thawabta, who described emotional reunions with waiting family members.
\nIsrael allowed Rafah to reopen but continues to restrict movement to patients and their companions only, despite repeated calls from the United Nations and aid organizations to ease access.<\/p>\n
The reopening of Rafah offers a rare opportunity for Gaza residents to receive treatment abroad.
\nAbu Salmiya said around 20,000 patients in Gaza urgently need medical care, including about 4,500 children.<\/p>\n
In a related development, the United Nations reported that the occupied West Bank recorded its highest displacement figures in January, largely due to attacks and harassment by Israeli settlers.
\nAccording to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), at least 694 Palestinians were forcibly displaced during the month.<\/p>\n
The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said settler violence became a primary factor in forced displacement, particularly after the complete evacuation of the Ras Ein al-Auja community in the Jordan Valley.
\nResidents cited sustained harassment and attacks that left entire communities unable to remain in their homes.<\/p>\n
Since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023, at least 1,035 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces or settlers, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
\nIn the same period, at least 45 Israelis, including soldiers, were killed in attacks or during Israeli military operations, according to official Israeli figures.<\/p>\n
The limited number of Palestinians leaving Gaza via Rafah crossing highlights the scale of Gaza\u2019s humanitarian and medical crisis, while rising displacement and violence in the West Bank underscore the broader deterioration of conditions across the Palestinian territories.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The movement of Palestinians leaving Gaza via Rafah crossing has remained limited since the crossing was partially reopened with Egypt earlier this month, with around 180 people departing the enclave, according to officials and medical sources. Rafah is Gaza\u2019s only outlet to the outside world that does not pass through Israel, giving its operation particular […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28000,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"subtitle":"","format":"standard","override":[{"template":"7","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"left-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"topbottom","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_share_counter":"1","show_view_counter":"1","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","show_comment_section":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"1","show_post_related":"0","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0"},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"jnews_post_split":{"post_split":[{"template":"1","tag":"h2","numbering":"asc","mode":"normal","first":"0","enable_toc":"0","toc_type":"normal"}]},"footnotes":""},"categories":[79],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-regional"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27999"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27999\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28000"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}