RAFAH CROSSING WITH EGYPT STILL CLOSED: GAZA MINSTRY

File photo of the Rafah Crossing. (Photo: MEMO) — **The Rafah Gaza-Egypt Border Crossing.** (Photo: MEMO File )

Gaza City, 9 Muharram 1436/2 November 2014 (MINA) – Egyptian authorities have kept the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip closed for the 8th day in a row, the Gaza Interior Ministry said Saturday.

The ministry said in a statement that the terminal remains shut to Palestinians seeking to leave the Gaza Strip, Middle East Monitor (MEMO) quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting, Sunday.

The ministry warned that the Egyptian closure of the terminal will “aggravate the suffering of thousands of patients and students”.

Egyptian authorities closed the Rafah crossing last week following a deadly attack on a military checkpoint in the northern Sinai Peninsula that killed at least 31 soldiers and injured scores.

Egypt has tightened its grip on the border with the blockaded Gaza Strip since last year’s ouster of Mohamed Morsi – the country’s first freely elected president – by the army.

The crossing closure has made life even more difficult for Gaza’s roughly 1.9 residents, who have groaned under an airtight Israeli blockade since 2007. (T/P3/R01)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)