Cairo: Egyptian authorities temporarily reopened on Sunday the Rafah border crossing with the blockaded Gaza Strip, a Palestinian border official said.
The terminal will remain open for two days until August 28 in both directions to allow prospective pilgrims and humanitarian cases to cross, Hisham Advan, an official at the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing, said.
Muslim prospective pilgrims leave for Makkah to perform their Hajj pilgrimage. According to Anadolu Agency, 484 Gazan prospective pilgrims will cross the border at first. Moreover, Palestinians stranded in the Egyptian side earlier would also have a chance to cross to Gaza during this period to celebrate Eid al-Adha – one of the two most significant festivals in the Islamic calendar.
Israel has blockaded the Gaza Strip by air, land, and sea since 2007. It has seven border crossings linking it to the outside world.
Six of these are controlled by Israel, while the seventh — the Rafah crossing — is controlled by Egypt, which has kept it tightly sealed for the most part of the year.
AG/IINA
