A SMALL number of Palestinians managed to travel between Gaza and Egypt on Sunday as the Rafah crossing reopened after a two-day closure, Egyptian state media reported.

The vital border point opened last week for the first time since mid-2024, one of the main requirements for the United States-backed ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

The crossing was closed on Friday and Saturday by Israel.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said that 17 medical evacuees and 27 companions had begun the crossing into Egypt.

The same number was expected to head into Gaza. Israel didn’t immediately confirm it.

Palestinian officials say nearly 20,000 people in Gaza seek to leave for medical care that isn’t available in the war-shattered territory.

Amjad Abu Jedian, injured in the war, had been scheduled to leave for medical treatment on the first day of the crossing’s reopening, but only five patients were allowed to travel, said his mother, Raja Abu Jedian. He was shot by an Israeli sniper while doing building work in the central Bureij refugee camp in July 2024, she said.

On Saturday, his family received a call from the World Health Organisation about travelling on Sunday, she said.

“We want them to take care of the patients (during their evacuation),” she said. “We want the Israeli military not to burden them.”

A group of Palestinians arrived on Sunday at the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing to return to Gaza, Egypt’s Al-Qahera News satellite television reported.

Palestinians who returned to Gaza in the first few days of the crossing’s operation described hours of delays and invasive searches by Israeli authorities and an Israeli-backed Palestinian armed group, Abu Shabab.

Israel has denied mistreatment.

Over the first four days of the crossing’s opening, just 36 Palestinians requiring medical care were allowed to leave for Egypt, plus 62 companions, according to the United Nations.

Meanwhile, senior Hamas official Khaled Mashaal said the group is open to discuss the future of its weapons as part of a “balanced approach” that includes the reconstruction of Gaza and protecting the Palestinian enclave from Israel, issues central to the ceasefire’s second phase.

Mr Mashaal said the group has offered multiple options, including a long-term truce, as part of ongoing negotiations with Egyptian, Qatari and Turkish mediators.

The new Board of Peace, a Trump-led group of world leaders that is expected to meet for the first time February 19.

Mr Mashaal told reporters that Hamas would not accept “foreign intervention” in Palestinian affairs.