EGYPT TO OPEN RAFAH CROSSING FOR THREE DAYS
Rafah, 3 Rabiul Akhir 1435/4 February 2014 (MINA) – Director General of Border Crossings Administration Maher Abu Sabha said the Egyptian authorities will open the Rafah crossing from Tuesday, February 4th, 2014 to Thursday in both directions.
Abu Sabha told ALRAY that “the potential passengers are those applying for their departure to be on January 30 and February 30, in addition to those turned back during last opening,”
The crossing is usually opened three days every ten days. It was last opened on January 21 for humanitarian cases, Palestinian Media Agency Al-Ray quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.
The Egyptian authorities used to cite computers crash during the partial opening of the Rafah crossing on the days they designate, ALRAY, Palestinian Media Agency quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.
The Rafah crossing is the main connection between Gaza’s 1.7 million residents and the outside world since Israel imposed an exhaustive blockade on Gaza in early 2007.
After the Egyptian military seized the reins of power ousting President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013, Rafah has frequently been shut down or operating at reduced capacity.
Palestinian Authority ambassador to Cairo Barakat al-Farra thanked Egyptian authorities for their decision to open the crossing.
The Rafah crossing has been the principal connection between Gaza’s 1.7 million residents and the outside world since the imposition of an economic blockade by the State of Israel beginning in 2007.
Egypt has frequently closed the terminal since the army ousted president Mohamed Morsi in July last year. Hundreds of tunnels that Gazans used for years to import fuel, building materials and other goods have also been destroyed.
Egyptian power line supplying Rafah city idled
ALRAY also reported from Rafah that an Egyptian power line feeding the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah Monday idled, said PR officer at Gaza Electricity Distribution Company Jamal Dardasawi.
The idled line provides Rafah city with 10 MWs of electrical power out of a total paid supply of 25 MWs of electricity needed by the city, Dardasawi told Safa Press Agency.
He pointed out that the company had to make changes to the electricity distribution program in the city to be limited to six hours a day.
The company contacted the Egyptian authorities to get the line repaired, which responded that maintenance work is likely to begin on Tuesday.
The line supplying Rafah city was damaged while caterpillars of the Egyptian military were active on the border area, the local news agency reported.
The Gaza Strip has been reeling under a gripping electricity crisis since 2008, when Israel bombed the sole power plant in the coastal enclave.
Since then, the 1.7 million population has been suffering power cuts regularly lasting 12 to 16 hours each day. (T/P02/E01)
Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)
