Only 12 people entered Egypt from Gaza on first day of Rafah Crossing opening

By AFP and ToI Staff 3 February 2026, 9:31 am

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A Palestinians child waves from the window of a bus evacuating patients, accompanied by relatives, as they ready to leave the Gaza Strip for treatment abroad through the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt, the day after it was opened by Israel for a limited number of people, in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip on February 2, 2026. (Photo by Bashar Taleb / AFP)

Only 12 Palestinians entered Egypt from Gaza yesterday, the first day of a limited reopening of the Rafah border crossing, a source at the border tells AFP.

“Five injured people and seven companions” crossed the border, the source says.

This number is significantly lower than the quota of 50 patients and two companions per patient that was set, according to three officials at the Egyptian border.

It was not immediately clear how many Palestinians entered Gaza through the crossing, which is open for a limited number of pedestrians per day.