Egypt To Reopen Rafah Crossing With Gaza Sunday

Egyptian authorities will reopen the Gaza Strip on Sunday for two days in both directions to allow stranded Palestinians to cross into the blockaded enclave, a Palestinian official has said.



"Egyptian authorities have formally informed the Palestinian side that the terminal will be opened in both directions on Sunday and Monday to allow stranded Palestinians to cross into Gaza," Maher Abu Sabha, the head of the Palestinian border authority, told The Anadolu Agency.



He said that Patients and stranded residents will be allowed to cross the terminal on Sunday.



"Students will be allowed to cross on Monday," Abu Sabha said, going on to call on Egyptian authorities to permanently open the Rafah crossing.



Abu Sabha estimated that around 3,000 Palestinians have been stranded on the Egyptian side of the border due to the terminal's closure.



There has been no comment from Egyptian officials on the report.



The official MENA news agency earlier "ed official sources as saying that the Rafah crossing will be opened in one direction on Sunday for two days.



Egypt closed the Rafah border crossing, Gaza's only access to the outside world that is not controlled by Israel, on October 24 following an attack on a military site in the Sinai Peninsula that left 31 Egyptian troops dead.



Egypt has tightened its grip on the border with the blockaded Gaza Strip since last year's ouster of Mohamed Morsi – the country's first freely elected president – by the army.



Repeated crossing closures have made life even more difficult for Gaza's roughly 1.9 million residents.



www.aa.com.tr/en - Gazze