Israel said on Wednesday that it would begin allowing some Palestinians to leave the Gaza Strip for Egypt “in the coming days” through the Rafah border crossing.

Such an opening would be a lifeline for Gazans hoping to flee the devastated enclave, particularly the sick and wounded.

Israel’s military liaison on humanitarian affairs, widely known by its acronym, COGAT, said that the crossing would open only one way, allowing Palestinians to leave Gaza but not to return, and that it would be overseen in part by the European Union, working with Egypt and Israel.

But the Egyptian government on Wednesday denied that it was coordinating with Israel to reopen the Rafah crossing.

Egypt’s state information service said that, according to the cease-fire agreed upon between Israel and Hamas in October, the border had to be open in both directions. In addition to allowing Palestinians to leave Gaza for Egypt, that would most likely mean that the tens of thousands of Gazans displaced to Egypt could also begin returning home.

Israel and Hamas agreed on those broad terms for reopening the border in mid-October, when they signed a cease-fire that ended the two-year war in Gaza. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel later said the Rafah crossing would remain closed until further notice.

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