Efforts under way to reopen Rafah crossing

A senior Hamas official in the Gaza Strip, Ghazi Hamad, says the Islamic Resistance Movement is holding negotiations with the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority as well as others to reopen the Rafah border crossing into the besieged coastal enclave.

Speaking at a press conference in Gaza City on Tuesday, Hamad said Egypt, along with the Geneva-based International Committee of the Red Cross and the United Nations, are engaged in talks to bring the border crossing back into normal operation in order to protect the lives and dignity of Palestinians.

According to Hamad, 70 to 100 patients leave Gaza through the Erez crossing with Israel every day, while the Kerem Shalom and Karni crossings allow limited amounts of goods and humanitarian assistance into Gaza on a weekly basis.

“Several parties have suggested that Gaza and Ramallah form a joint police force to monitor the Rafah crossing,” Hamad said.

“This was discussed with Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, and he agreed. Another option would be for the Palestinian presidential guards and European monitors to resume monitoring.”

Israel has continued the closure of all border crossings to the Gaza Strip for more than two years. The illegal Israeli imposed blockade on the Gaza Strip, which has steadily tightened since 2007, has had a disastrous impact on the humanitarian and economic situation in the coastal enclave.

Some 1.5 million people are being denied their basic rights, including freedom of movement, and their rights to appropriate living conditions, work, health, and education. Poverty and unemployment rates stand at approximately 80% and 60% respectively in the Gaza Strip.

Three weeks of Israeli air strikes and a ground incursion into the Gaza Strip between December 2008 and January 2009 resulted in the death of over 1,400 Palestinians and the injury of about 5,450 people. Most of the victims were civilians.

The carnage also inflicted more than $1.6 billion of damage on Gaza’s economy.