EGYPT OPENS RAFAH FOR ONE DAY TO ALLOW PILGRIMS TO RETURN TO GAZA

Palestinians gather in front of the Rafah crossing between the southern Gaza Strip and Egypt, Jan. 16, 2015. (AFP/Said Khatib, File)

Cairo, 18 Dzulhijjah 1436/1 October 2015 (MINA) – Egyptian authorities opened the Rafah crossing on Wednesday to allow 580 Palestinian pilgrims to return to Gaza from Saudi Arabia following the hajj pilgrimage, security sources said.

The crossing will be closed later in the evening and reopened next week to allow a further 2,500 pilgrims to return to the besieged enclave, Maan News Agency quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

The Rafah crossing, Gaza’s only connection to the outside world, has been virtually closed since October 2014, allowing only a fraction of Gazans to leave or enter.

The 1.8 million residents of the Gaza Strip have lived under a strict Israeli blockade since 2006, which Egypt has helped to maintain. (T/P010/R04)

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Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)