CAIRO: The Rafah border crossing will be opened for three days beginning next Monday to allow movement of certain Palestinians to and from the Gaza Strip.
The crossing will be opened for Gazans seeking treatment in Egypt, students pursuing their studies abroad and for Gazans who passed through the last time the crossing was opened will return to the strip.
Members of the International Movement to Open the Rafah Border (IMORB), a group, which maintains a constant vigil outside the crossing, said in an email Thursday that the previous opening of the crossing was a “horrible mess.
“Egyptian authorities deployed their anti-riot police and people had to wait hours under the sun, it continued, “many of them [were denied entry] without any reason.
The border was opened for three days late last June, with almost 3000 Palestinians passing through in both directions. The border, though officially closed, is opened periodically for these three-day stints to allow movement.
Palestinians are not allowed to cross the border, even to return to Gaza, expect during these allotted times.
Also on Thursday, an American military delegation visited the Rafah border crossing to observe security measures aimed at preventing smuggling across the border.
According to the Masrawy web portal, the delegation included the military attaché of the US Embassy in Cairo as well as a diplomatic delegation form the US. They were received by an Egyptian security delegation in the VIP hall of the Rafah crossing where they were informed of Egypt’s efforts to prevent further smuggling beneath the border.
Gaza has remained under siege for two years now since Hamas took over the Strip and expelled Fatah forces from it. The Rafah crossing is the only gateway into Gaza not under direct Israeli control.
Only medical aid is permitted through the Rafah crossing. Any other sort of aid must be let in through Al-Oja crossing, which is under Israeli control on the other side.
Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said last time the crossing was opened that “We still believe the closing of the crossing is a national and pan-Arab mistake, because the suffering of Gaza’s residents is great and cannot be expressed in words.
