Egypt to open Rafah border crossing into Gaza for 2 days
The border crossing will only allow entry into Gaza, while people in Gaza will not be able to go to Egypt.
By JPOST.COM STAFFA Palestinian boy is seen at the Rafah crossing on the Egypt-Gaza border.(photo credit: REUTERS)
Egypt will partially open its border crossing with Gaza for two days after months of completely sealing it off.According to al-Arabiya news, the Rafah border crossing will be open for those from Egypt to enter Gaza on Tuesday and Wednesday. However, people in Gaza will not be allowed to enter Egypt. The reason for this is unclear.The decision came after "high-level correspondence" between Egypt and the Palestinian embassy in the country.The border was completely closed off after two attacks in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula killed 33 security personnel on October 24, 2014. It was considered some of the worst anti-state violence since Islamist President Mohamed Morsi was overthrown last year.The violence prompted Egypt to declare a three-month state of emergency in parts of North Sinai, where the attacks took place.A month after the attacks, on November 26, Egypt temporarily re-opened the Rafah border crossing to allow thousands of stranded Palestinians to return to Gaza but the border remained closed to traffic going the other way.In February, Gazan university students tossed diploma lookalikes into the sea in protest of the closure of Egypt's Rafah crossing.The sealing off of the Rafah border has left many students stranded in Gaza, falling behind on coursework and unable to resume their studies at institutions outside of the strip. The sealing of the border has also kept thousands of Palestinians from making pilgrimage to holy sites in Saudi Arabia.Reuters contributed to this report.
