Egypt's Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip reopened on Saturday for the first time in nearly nine months. Several sick and injured Palestinian patients were evacuated via the crossing to receive medical treatment outside war-ruined Gaza, Egyptian security and Red Crescent sources said.
Footage on Egypt's state-linked al-Qahera News TV channel showed the first patients from Gaza beginning to arrive at the Egyptian side of the crossing. They arrived to the checkpoint inside ambulances belonging to the Palestinian Red Crescent and then transferred into waiting Egyptian ambulances on the other side of the border.
A total of 50 sick and injured people, along with 53 escorts, are expected to be evacuated Saturday from Gaza into Egypt, according to the broadcaster. In May last year, Israel took control of the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing, in an operation that halted aid deliveries into the densely populated coastal strip via the vital facility.
The European Union said Friday the bloc had started its support mission to help with the reopening of the Rafah crossing. EU border guards are deployed at the crossing at the request of Palestinians and Israelis, the bloc's top diplomat Kaja Kallas wrote on the social media platform X. The facility's reopening is part of a three-phase ceasefire agreement between the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement and Israel. Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa landed in Saudi Arabia on Sunday for his first foreign trip since taking power amid warming ties between his administration and the oil-rich kingdom.
Footage on the Saudi state television al-Ekhbariya showed Prince Mohammed receiving al-Sharaa and an companying delegation before going into a meeting. There were no immediate details about the talks. Political uncertainty is again looming in France after Prime Minister Francois Bayrou warned that he would use special executive powers this week to get his budget approved without a vote by lawmakers. The move is expected to trigger a motion of no confidence.
