GAZA CITY: Egypt briefly reopened the Rafah crossing yesterday for humanitarian reasons to allow in some 50 people who were stranded in the Gaza Strip, the Hamas interior ministry said.
Egypt had on Thursday announced it was closing “indefinitely” the only crossing — the only route into the Hamas-ruled coastal enclave that bypasses Israel — for security reasons a day after deadly violence nationwide.
The move had left hundreds of Palestinians stranded on both sides of the border, witnesses said.
Yesterday Egypt “reopened the Rafah crossing to allow through international travellers” who hold foreign passports and “humanitarian cases,” the interior ministry said.
It was referring to people in need of medical treatment in Egyptian hospitals.
Hamas is allied with the Muslim Brotherhood of deposed Egyptian president Mohammed Mursi. It has denounced the crackdown on Mursi’s supporters, but yesterday said it would not be a party in Egypt’s internal affairs”.
AFP
