On the first day of operation of the Rafah checkpoint, 30 Palestinians attempting to return to the Gaza Strip were denied entry. The Palestinian Ministry of Interior confirmed that 12 people entered the strip from Egypt, and a report by the Qatari Al-Arabiya TV channel, citing Palestinian sources, claimed that masked armed men detained those trying to enter Gaza « at a distance of 500 meters from the checkpoint. » After this, they were taken to an Israeli checkpoint, where they were “interrogated and their property was confiscated.”