Al-Shifa Hospital director says blocking medical evacuations through Rafah crossing could be ‘death sentence’ for many.

Three women who entered Gaza on the first day of the reopening told The Associated Press on Tuesday that Israeli troops blindfolded and handcuffed them, then interrogated and threatened them, holding them for several hours and inflicting what they said was humiliating treatment until they were released.

A dozen Palestinian returnees were allowed into Gaza from Egypt late Monday after the long-awaited reopening of the Rafah border crossing was marred by delays. Their arrival came hours after a small group of medical evacuees was ferried from the territory into Egypt.

Rafah is one of the sticking points in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas and was often the focal point of the war that began in October 2023.