Report: US-backed Egyptian government closed the Rafah crossing for 96 days in 6 months

Palestinian official statistics showed that in the past year 2013, the Rafah border crossing was closed for 101 days, while the number of its closure days reached 96 since June 30.

Annual Statistics, issued by General Administration of crossings at the Ministry of Interior and National Security in Gaza, showed that the number of departures via the Rafah crossing in 2013 has only reached 152 thousand and 278 passengers, which is a small number compared to the year 2012, due the repeated closure of the crossing, especially during the second half of the year.

Rafah crossing has been partially opened since the first of last July after the Egyptian military coup.

Meanwhile, thousands of people have been trapped in the Gaza Strip because of the continued closure of the crossing, which has caused a real humanitarian catastrophe.