ISLAMIC JIHAD OFFICIALS DISCUSS RAFAH CLOSURE IN EGYPT

Photo: Ma'an News Agency — **Palestinians who were displaced from their houses due to fierce clashes between Israel and Hamas return to check their homes in the Shejaiya neighborhood of Gaza City, on Aug. 1, 2014.** (M’an/AFP/Mahmud Hams)

Gaza, 11 Jumadal Awwal 1436/2 March 2015 (MINA) – A delegation of Islamic Jihad leaders met with Egyptian officials in Cairo Saturday to discuss the need for Egyptian authorities to open the Rafah crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip.

Headed by the group’s secretary-general Ramadan Abdullah Shallah, Islamic Jihad leaders stressed to authorities the Rafah closure has seriously restricted the movement of Gaza population.

Deputy secretary-general of the Islamic Jihad Ziad al-Nakhala, who joined the Cairo meetings, said that all Palestinian groups “must knock all closed doors in order to create even a glimpse of hope which could help relief the people of Gaza”, Ma’an News Agency quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

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In a statement received by Ma’an, al-Nakhala added that priority in the meetings was given to the Rafah crossing and the reconstruction of the war-torn areas in the coastal enclave. The Egyptians, he said, took the Islamic Jihad’s suggestions very seriously.

The secretary-general added that the group’s delegation would meet in Cairo with Hamas officials including Mousa Abu Marzouk to try to work out a binding agreement with the Egyptian leadership.

Residents of Gaza struggle to rebuild after Israel’s massive assault on Gaza over the summer, which left over 2,200 Palestinians dead and thousands more injured.

An estimated 110,000 Palestinians lost their homes, and reconstruction materials needed to repair the war-torn territory are severely limited due to the Israeli blockade on the strip since 2007.

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The Rafah crossing into Egypt has been the principal connection between Gaza’s 1.8 million residents and the outside world since the imposition of the blockade, however

Rising tensions in Egypt have led to continual closures of the crossing, as Egyptian authorities have accused Hamas of aiding militants who have waged a string of deadly attacks on security forces in the Sinai Peninsula. (T/P010/P3)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)