CAIRO: Egypt is to reopen the Rafah border crossing with the Hamas-run Gaza Strip for two days to allow hundreds of stranded on both sides to cross, a Palestinian diplomat in Cairo said on Monday.
According to Nabil Amr, the diplomat, the opening will begin on Tuesday. All Palestinians who need medical treatment would be allowed into Egypt, as well as those with residency permits in Egypt or elsewhere, Amr told reporters in Cairo.
Palestinians returning from abroad will also be allowed into Gaza from Egypt, he said, adding that the opening of the border was a “humanitarian decision in “response to appeals from Palestinians stuck because of border closures.
The move also followed talks on Sunday between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Egypt’s chief of intelligence Omar Suleiman on the Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts.
In Israel, government spokesman Mark Regev had no comment on the Egyptian announcement.
But last week, after Regev attended a meeting between Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert at the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh, he told reporters there that the “Rafah crossing will not be open and return to normal business unless the captured Israeli officer, Sgt. Gilad Shalit, was released first.
However, Regev’s emphasis at the time on “normal business indicated that the Israelis likely do not preclude temporary openings of the crossing.
Egypt earlier this month brokered a ceasefire accord between the Hamas militants who control Gaza and Israel. Under the deal, the Palestinians would stop rocket attacks into Israel while the Israelis would halt reprisal incursions into Palestinian territory.
The truce also meant to end Israel’s yearlong sealing of Gaza’s borders and an economic blockade that caused widespread shortages of basic humanitarian goods.
The Rafah crossing is the main gateway for Gaza’s 1.4 million people for travel abroad. It was sealed after the Hamas takeover of Gaza in inter-Palestinian fighting a year ago. The closure has also prevented people from traveling for medical care, studies and family visits.
