Egypt opens Rafah border crossing for additional day
Tuesday, December 23, 2014
On Sunday, Egypt opened the Rafah border crossing for two days, allowing many people, who had been waiting since it closed two months ago following a terror attack in the Sinai peninsula, to cross the border with the Gaza Strip in both directions. On Monday, Egyptian authorities announced they were opening the border crossing for another day.
During the first two days, almost 1,000 people passed through the border crossing, about two thirds of them from the Gaza Strip to Egypt and a third in the opposite direction. Gaza citizens who had been stuck in Egypt as they were unable to enter the Gaza Strip, were able to return home. Director of Gaza Strip border corssings Maher Abu Sabha said those who crossed to the Egyptian side were people in need of medical treatment or who hold an overseas stay permit, only.
On October 24, a car bomb detonated in northern Sinai, causing the death of 31 Egyptian security personnel and injuring 30 or more. Following the attack and as part of the Egyptian authorities' long-term fight against militant islamism in the Sinai peninsula, the Rafah border crossing was closed, and opened for only two days in late November.
Related news
- "Sisi: Egypt willing to send stabilizing forces to future Palestinian State" — Wikinews, November 24, 2014
- "Egypt postpones renewal of ceasefire talks in Cairo, following attacks in Sinai" — Wikinews, October 27, 2014
- "Egypt opens Rafah border crossing sporadically during Gaza crisis" — Wikinews, July 15, 2014
Sources
- AFP. "630 Gazans enter Egypt as Rafah reopens for 2 days" — Ma'an News Agency, December 22, 2014
- "Egypt extends opening of Rafah border crossing" — Ahram Online, December 22, 2014