GAZA CITY: The Gaza Strip border with Egypt was reopened on Thursday after a two-day closure owing to an Israeli security alert, officials said. EU monitors who oversee the Rafah terminal, Gaza s sole gateway to the world bypassing Israel, had been unable to get to work for two days and a liaison office closed because of an ongoing alert at a separate crossing. The monitors were finally able to travel to their jobs when the Israeli military opened the Kerem Shalom crossing to the EU representatives, and allowed an adjacent liaison office, which oversees Rafah, to reopen. The EU observers came and we have reopened, said Samir Abu Nahl, a security official at the Rafah terminal. The crossing is now operating again, confirmed EU monitors spokesman Nigel Milverton after the team of observers regained their posts. An Israeli military spokesman confirmed that Kerem Shalom had been opened to the EU monitors. The border had been closed for a second day running, early Thursday. Kerem Shalom s closure also meant the EU-Israeli-Palestinian liaison office based there and which oversees Rafah was unable to operate, he said. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had petitioned Egyptian, EU, Jordanian and U.S. officials in a bid to secure Rafah s reopening, a spokesman said. The European Union has deployed observers at Rafah, at the request of the Palestinian Authority and Israel, to monitor agreements on border traffic.
Hamas had said it suspected Rafah was shut to stop its government from carrying cash by hand into Gaza to sidestep a Western aid embargo. The monitors have denied the accusation.
The closure comes amid the escalating siege against the Palestinian people, said Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri. The border is a Palestinian-Egyptian crossing and the European monitors should continue to carry out the mission they were assigned under the Rafah agreement. A spokesman for the monitors had said a team was ready to open Rafah when the alert lifted. An Israeli army spokeswoman had said was there is still a very high alert of a possible terror attack on Kerem Shalom. The army has said monitors could get to Rafah via the northern Erez crossing. Monitors avoid that route because they would need to travel the length of Gaza under heavy escort. One European official said on Wednesday that Hamas officials had to declare any money they brought in and provide information about where it came from and how it would be used. Israel, the United States and the European Union imposed crippling economic sanctions on the new government after Hamas refused to recognize the Jewish state, renounce violence and accept past peace deals. Sworn to destroy Israel, Hamas took office in March. Agencies
