Gaza: Rafah border crossing reopens
From Our Own Correspondent
BBC
4.4 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 7 February 2026
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Kate Adie introduces stories from the Gaza-Egypt border, Cuba, Bangladesh, Ukraine and Slovenia.
The Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt reopened this week after being mainly kept shut since Israel captured the Gazan side in 2024. It’s opening has brought relief to many Palestinians who see it as a lifeline to the world. However, there has been frustration over delays and the small number of people being allowed through each day. Yolande Knell has been following developments.
Outside Venezuela, nowhere was last month’s US military action in Caracas felt more keenly than in Cuba. Venezuela has helped prop up the Communist-run island for twenty-five years, with subsidised supplies of crude oil. Will Grant reports from Havana on the island's growing economic crisis.
Bangladesh goes to the polls next week in its first election since a student uprising forced the previous Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, to flee for India. However, a new student-led political party is already in crisis. Azadeh Moshiri reports from Dhaka.
Ukraine continues to endure heavy Russian bombardment of its energy grid - in the capital more than a thousand buildings are still without power. But locals are finding innovative ways to keep warm amid freezing temperatures, as Abdujalil Abdurasulov discovered at a disco on a frozen river.
The Winter Olympic Games in Milan-Cortina are officially underway and one of Europe’s smallest countries is hoping to fly higher than the rest. Guy De Launey met the Slovenian brother and sister who are favourites for ski-jumping gold.
Producer: Serena Tarling Production coordinators: Katie Morrison and Sophie Hill Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hello. Today we're in Cuba, |
| 0:08.3 | where power cuts are part of daily life, but the revolutionary spirit is strong despite threats from Washington. |
| 0:15.8 | Bangladesh is heading to the polls for the first time since student protests ousted the former PM, but will the |
| 0:23.1 | political old guards still be in charge? In Ukraine, we're disco dancing on a frozen river, as locals |
| 0:30.5 | try to keep warm as temperatures plummet. And with the start of the Winter Olympics this weekend, |
| 0:42.1 | we meet the Slovenian ski jumpers hoping to sort at the start of the Winter Olympics this weekend, we meet the Slovenian ski jumpers, hoping to sort at the top of the podium. |
| 0:48.7 | But first, the rougher border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt reopened this week. It was supposed to happen during the first phase of U.S. President Donald Trump's ceasefire plan between Israel and |
| 0:55.6 | Hamas, which began back in October, but Israel blocked it until the return of the body of the last |
| 1:02.3 | Israeli hostage, which happened last week. The crossing has mainly been kept shut since Israel captured |
| 1:09.4 | the Gazan side in 2024, and its opening will come as a |
| 1:13.7 | relief to many Palestinians who see it as a lifeline to the world. However, there's been |
| 1:19.6 | frustration this week over delays and the small number of people being allowed through each day. |
| 1:25.8 | Yoland Nell has been following developments. |
| 1:29.2 | Their lives packed up in bulging suitcases. Palestinian boys and men, one with a bandaged head, |
| 1:35.6 | lined up in wheelchairs in a Red Crescent Field Hospital in southern Gaza on Monday morning. |
| 1:41.1 | Some had waited for two years to travel abroad for treatment, and it was still |
| 1:45.2 | going to take until night time before five made it out of the strip, far fewer than the 50 patients |
| 1:51.3 | expected, with seven of their relatives. Patients said they'd been called early and told to come |
| 1:56.9 | that they had Israeli and Egyptian security clearance to leave as the Rafakh border crossing |
| 2:01.6 | finally reopened. I feel lucky, Mahmoud who has leukemia told a journalist after making it through |
| 2:08.0 | to a shiny ambulance in Egypt with his sister. In Gaza there's no treatment and no life. |
| 2:14.4 | Raffach has long been seen by Gazans as their gateway to the world. It's their one crossing |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.