EGYPT TO REOPEN RAFAH CROSSING FOR GAZANS

The Rafah crossing is the only access point to the Gaza Strip not controlled by Israel (File: Al Jazeera)

Rafah, 28 Safar 1436/ 21 December 2014 (MINA) – Egypt to reopen the Rafah border crossing with Gaza for two days to allow those stranded in the country to enter the Palestinian territory, an official has said.

Ali al-Azazi, a police official, told the AFP news agency on Saturday that the border would be open on Sunday and Monday, the second time in the past two months, Al Jazeera quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

More than 3,500 Palestinians were stranded when Egypt closed the crossing after a suicide attack killed 30 soldiers in North Sinai Peninsula on October 24, the United Nations said last month.

The country reopened the crossing briefly at the end of November to allow some of them to return home.

It is not clear how many of them are still stranded.

The Rafah crossing is the only access point to the Gaza Strip not controlled by Israel.

Many Palestinians who travel through Rafah are students heading to universities in Egypt or beyond, or patients in need of medical treatment not available in Gaza. (T/P001/R03)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)