EGYPT REOPENS RAFAH CROSSING FOR 3 DAYS

         Gaza City, 5 Shafar 1434/9 December 2013 (MINA) – Egypt reopened on Sunday the Rafah crossing with the Gaza Strip for three days.

        “Egyptian authorities had notified us that the terminal would be open until Tuesday,” Maher Abu Sabha, the head of Gaza’s crossings and border agency, told Anadolu Agency.

         The terminal will operate for six hours a year and will only allow the passing of Palestinians with humanitarian needs, he noted, Anadolu Agency reported as quoted by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA), Sunday (8/12)

         An Egyptian crossing official confirmed the re-opening, saying priority would be given to medical patients and others with humanitarian needs.

         Egyptian authorities have tightened control over the border with the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip since the army’s July 3 ouster of elected president Mohamed Morsi.

         For the past weeks, Egyptian authorities have repeatedly closed the Rafah crossing, which – thanks to a seven-year Israeli embargo – represents Gaza’s only means of accessing the outside world.

         The Egyptian army has also launched a major campaign to destroy a network of underground tunnels linking Gaza and Egypt, which in recent years have been used to smuggle vital commodities into the coastal enclave. (T/P012/E1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)