Rafah reopening: 200 Gazans enter Egypt
Around 200 Palestinians left Gaza and entered the Egyptian
Sinai through the Rafah crossing on Sunday after Cairo authorised a temporary
reopening of the border, a Palestinian official said.
According to AFP it was only the second time in two months that Egypt had
opened the Rafah terminal.
All of those crossing were either seeking medical treatment
or were holders of a permit to stay overseas, according to Maher Abu Sabha,
director of border crossings in the Gaza Strip.
The southern Rafah crossing is Gaza's only gateway to the
world that is not controlled by Israel.
An AFP correspondent at the scene said hundreds of people
had gathered in front of the terminal.
"At around midday (1000 GMT), three buses carrying
around 200 people left Gaza through the Rafah terminal and entered Egypt,"
Abu Sabha said.
On Monday, Palestinians studying abroad would be permitted
to enter Egypt, he said.
On Saturday, an Egyptian official confirmed to AFP that the
crossing would be open on Sunday and Monday.
Cairo closed the crossing on October 25, the day after a
deadly suicide attack killed 30 soldiers in north Sinai.
The closure has prevented thousands of Gazans from accessing
medical treatment or higher education in Egypt and beyond, and also prevented some
3,500 Palestinians from returning home, the UN Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs said.
During the first six months of the year, when the crossing
was closed for a total of 22 days, an average of 6,400 people crossed each
month, the United Nations said.
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