TEHRAN – The Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt reopened on Sunday “on a trial basis” after being nearly completely sealed for more than two years under the Israeli blockade. The limited reopening, announced by Israeli authorities, underscores the ongoing control Israel exercises over Palestinian life, even amid a so-called ceasefire.

COGAT, the Israeli military unit enforcing the blockade, stated that only 50 Palestinians would be allowed to leave Gaza daily for urgent medical care, while 50 would be permitted to enter. Israel and Egypt will screen all travelers, and European Union border patrol agents will monitor the crossing. Hamas officials have strongly condemned any such restrictions, warning that they violate the October ceasefire agreement and continue to punish the Palestinian population.

Hazem Qasim, spokesperson for Hamas, emphasized that the reopening of the Rafah crossing is a right that Palestinians have “earned through their steadfastness and resistance.” He warned mediators and international monitors to ensure that Israel does not exploit the reopening to reimpose or reshape the blockade. “Any Israeli conditions that restrict the movement of our people constitute a breach of the ceasefire,” Qasim said.

The Rafah crossing is Gaza’s only exit point outside of Israeli-controlled borders, and its closure for over two years has left tens of thousands of Palestinians trapped. The Gaza Health Ministry reports that some 20,000 Palestinians are awaiting urgent medical care outside the enclave, including children, while thousands more seek to return home but remain blocked by Israel’s restrictions.

The reopening comes in the context of continued Israeli aggression. Since the US-brokered ceasefire took effect on October 10, 2025, Israel has killed over 500 Palestinians in blatant violations of the agreement. In total, more than 71,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its devastating war on Gaza in October 2023. Just on Saturday, Israeli airstrikes killed more than 30 Palestinians, including civilians, in further evidence of the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe inflicted by the occupation.

The current “pilot” reopening of the Rafah crossing highlights the enduring injustice of Israel’s blockade and the resilience of the Palestinian people. Hamas has vowed to continue defending Gaza’s rights, calling for the international community to pressure Israel to end its decades-long policies of siege, occupation, and collective punishment.

Ultimately, this tightly choreographed "pilot" program at Rafah exposes the fundamental deceit at the heart of the blockade. It reveals a strategy that seeks international legitimacy through a performance of controlled benevolence while meticulously sustaining the very conditions of humanitarian emergency. This is not conflict management but the clinical administration of a crisis, transforming Gaza into a geopolitical laboratory where human suffering is calibrated and freedom of movement is auctioned as a scarce commodity. The crossing's operation, therefore, stands as a stark monument to a political will committed not to security but to domination, demonstrating that the architecture of occupation has evolved into a sophisticated, internationally tolerated system of human control.