ABU SABHA: NO NEWS ON OPENING RAFAH CROSSING

Gaza, 13 Jumadil Awwal 1436/4 March 2015 (MINA) – Director General of Gaza border crossings, Maher Abu Sabha, said there are no news on a specific date for opening the Rafah border crossing with Egypt. He stressed that he will be the first to abide by any agreement regarding the Gaza crossings.

He revealed, in a statement to the PIC on Tuesday, that “Many Gazans blame us for their suffering. Thus, I say, very clearly, we will not be the cause of the anguish of our people. We have always been servants to them and we will continue to be”, Palestinian Information Center (PIC) quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

“We have no information about efforts for reopening the Rafah crossing”, he added.

The Egyptian authorities have been completely closing the Rafah border crossing since the beginning of this year. It was opened only for three days whereas its closure lasted for 241 days during last year.

A few months earlier, an agreement on Gaza border crossings was signed by the Palestinian unity government and Hamas Movement in Gaza. The agreement, however, was denied and not implemented by the Palestinian presidency.

Meanwhile, the Palestinians who have been stranded in Egypt and in Arab countries appealed to the Arab and international authorities along with the Secretary General of Islamic Jihad, who is in Cairo at the moment, to intervene to open Rafah crossing in order to be able to go back to their homes in Gaza Strip.

“We have been stranded for 40 days. We are out of money and got exhausted due to the long wait and false promises which all went in vein”, one of the stranded said. (T/P006/R03)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)