Sit-in staged by Gaza stranded women to push for opening Rafah crossing

Dozens of Palestinian women on Thursday evening staged a sit-in at the Rafah border-crossing, south of Gaza, calling for opening the passageway so as to smooth Palestinians’ access out of and into the blockaded Strip on humanitarian grounds.

The sit-inners lifted banners reading “Gaza blockaded! For how long?;” “Gaza children call for reconstruction;” “Gaza students and patients need to travel”, and “Oh Muslims! Gaza is sinking into darkness.”

Israa al-Ar’ir, spokesperson for the Coalition of Women against the Siege, said on the sidelines of the rally: “Palestinians’ have the right to travel through the Rafah border crossing freely.”

“Opening the crossing for a few days is not enough to meet people’s needs. Over 38,000 passengers have been stranded at the crossing.”

She called on the Arab and Islamic nations to stand by Palestinians in Gaza and work on lifting the blockade imposed by the Israeli occupation authorities for eight uninterrupted years.

Earlier on Tuesday the Egyptian authorities closed the Rafah crossing after having opened it for three days only.