The Rafah border crossing opened on Thursday and 1,814 Palestinians have crossed to the strip, according to the Palestinian Embassy in Cairo.
The border crossing was kept open by Egyptian security forces until the early hours of Friday in order to allow for the return of all travellers.
Furthermore, 290 tonnes of cement were transported via the border to cater to the needs of reconstruction projects.
The Palestinian Embassy in Cairo expressed its appreciation of the Egyptian authorities’ efforts to “alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people in Gaza” by allowing Palestinians to pass through the Rafah crossing, in a statement released Friday.
However, the Palestinian Interior ministry in Gaza criticised Egypt’s decision to open the border for one day only in the direction of Gaza, state-owned Al-Ahram reported.
The ministry spokesperson called on the Egyptian authorities to authorise two-way passage through the border to allow for “thousands of humanitarian cases”.
Egyptian authorities had announced the opening of the Rafah border crossing on Thursday for one day only to allow “stranded” Palestinians to return to the Gaza Strip.
Earlier this month, the Rafah border was opened for three days starting 7 October to allow the crossing of 2,400 Palestinian pilgrims to the Gaza Strip. The first day of its opening witnessed the crossing of 1,509 Palestinian pilgrims.
Opening the border for returning pilgrims was the only exception to a border closure lasting for two months.
The border has been officially closed since 24 October 2014, following attacks at the Qarm Al-Qawadis checkpoint by “State of Sinai”, which killed at least 33 military personnel. Since the attacks, the crossing has only been opened in exceptional cases, or to allow for humanitarian cases to pass.
