Rafah Crossing between Gaza and Egypt reopens for first time since start of Iran war

8 wounded Palestinians, 17 of their relatives exit Strip for treatment abroad, medics say; Hamas civil defense says IDF strikes killed 4 in Gaza; IDF says Hamas intel officer killed

By Emanuel Fabian and ToI Staff 19 March 2026, 4:01 pm
Edit
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
Minibuses carrying Palestinians wishing to return to the Gaza Strip line up on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing on March 19, 2026. (Amr ADEL / AFP)
Minibuses carrying Palestinians wishing to return to the Gaza Strip line up on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing on March 19, 2026. (Amr ADEL / AFP)

Israel reopened the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt on Thursday, allowing a group of Palestinians wounded in the Israel-Hamas war to leave for treatment after a nearly three-week closure due to the war with Iran.

Israel had shuttered the Rafah crossing following the start of Iran war on February 28, saying crossings could not be operated safely.

The reopening came as Gaza’s Hamas-run civil defense agency reported four people killed and several wounded in separate Israeli strikes on Gaza City’s Zeitoun and Tuffah neighborhoods on Wednesday. Asked by AFP about the two incidents, the Israel Defense Forces said it was looking into the reports.

The IDF said a strike in Khan Younis that day killed a Hamas intelligence officer.

According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, on Thursday, eight wounded Palestinians and 17 of their relatives were shuttled from the ambulance service’s Khan Younis headquarters to Egypt via the Rafah crossing, in coordination with the World Health Organization and other agencies. Footage published by Arabic media showed several ambulances waiting to receive Palestinian patients coming out of the Strip.

One of the outbound Palestinians, 63-year-old Kamal Musa, was quoted by London-based Arabic outlet Alquds Alarabi as saying he was taking his 17-year-old daughter abroad to treat a spinal cord injury she sustained in an Israeli bombing on the family’s tent in May that also killed two of his sons.

The daughter had received treatment in Gaza, but was unable to complete her treatment because of the limited resources in the Strip, said Musa, adding: “We have been waiting for this moment for eight months.”

It was unclear how many people would be allowed to enter Gaza via the crossing. Some Palestinian outlets said 21 Gazans were expected to return to the Strip, after they had arrived at the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing on February 27 but had been denied entry the next day due to the Iran war.

The Rafah crossing had originally reopened in early February, following the ceasefire in October between Israel and Hamas and the return of the final deceased hostage held by the terror group.

While it was open, the crossing was operated in accordance with an Egyptian-Israel agreement that restricted the number of returning Gazans to 50 a day, and the daily number of outbound Gazans to 50 medical patients as well as two family members to accompany each patient.

Numbers have generally been lower due to logistical and other complications. According to Hamas’s media affairs office, 1,934 people traveled through the crossing in February — 1,075 outbound and 859 returning Gazans.

A convoy transporting Palestinians heads toward the Rafah border crossing with Egypt after it opens for the first time since the US-Israel war with Iran started, in Khan Younis on March 19, 2026 (Bashar TALEB / AFP)

Sources told Reuters earlier that the opening of the Rafah crossing on Thursday was the result of talks that envoys from the US-backed Board of Peace had with Hamas officials in Cairo over the weekend in an effort to safeguard the Gaza ceasefire, which has been under serious strain amid the war with Iran. The board, chaired by US President Donald Trump, is meant to oversee the ceasefire’s implementation.

Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories said earlier in the week that the crossing would reopen following a new risk assessment, “maintaining the necessary security restrictions in light of the security situation and the threats in the area.”

IDF strikes kill Hamas intel officer, gunmen

An Israeli strike in Khan Younis on Wednesday killed Muhammed Abu Shahla, the intelligence officer of Hamas’s Khan Younis Brigade, the IDF said Thursday. Al-Quds Brigades, Hamas’s armed wing, confirmed his death in a “martyr” poster.

According to the IDF, Abu Shahla was involved in planning the terror group’s October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel. More recently, he had “operated in violation of the ceasefire agreement to rehabilitate the organization’s capabilities in the Gaza Strip and planned to carry out terror attacks against IDF troops and the State of Israel,” the IDF said in a statement.

“The terrorist was targeted in a precise strike in order to remove an immediate threat to IDF troops,” the military added.

The IDF also said it struck and killed four armed Palestinian terror operatives in the northern Gaza Strip. The military said the gunmen had crossed the Yellow Line and posed an “immediate threat” to the forces.

The IDF said it struck and “eliminated the terrorists to remove the threat.”

Agencies contributed to this report.

Most Popular
read more:
If you’d like to comment, join
The Times of Israel Community.
JOIN THE TOI COMMUNITY
Join The Times of Israel Community
Commenting is available for paying members of The Times of Israel Community only. Please join our Community to comment and enjoy other Community benefits.
Please use the following structure: example@domain.com
Confirm Mail
Thank you! Now check your email
You are now a member of The Times of Israel Community! We sent you an email with a login link to . Once you're set up, you can start enjoying Community benefits and commenting.