EgyptPalestine

Egypt partially reopens Rafah crossing

images_News_2013_07_13_rafah_300_0Egyptian authorities partially opened the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip on Saturday, after closing it on Friday.

The Egyptian authorities have opened the Rafah crossing on Wednesday and Thursday, after closing it for five days, for those who hold Egyptian or foreign passports and for humanitarian cases.

The director of borders and crossings in the Gaza government stated that the terminal will be opened Saturday in both directions for four hours.

He said people holding foreign passports stranded on both sides of the border crossing will be allowed access in addition to humanitarian cases.

Meanwhile, Gaza Foreign Affairs Ministry said that it has reached an agreement to solve the pilgrims’ crisis who are stranded in Saudi Arabia due to the recent Egyptian developments.

Dr. Ghazi Hamad, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, affirmed that an agreement has been reached with the Egyptian authorities to secure the return of the Palestinian pilgrims to Gaza.

The Palestinian pilgrims will be allowed to return to Egypt through Cairo airport and not Arish airport due to the security situation in the region, he explained, pointing out that they will travel from Cairo airport to Rafah crossing in coordination with the Palestinian embassy in Cairo.

1,600 Palestinian pilgrims were scheduled to return to Gaza from Saudi Arabia last week but they did not as Egypt continued to close the crossing over internal conflicts.

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