Hamas says Egypt to extend hours for Rafah border

Egypt has agreed to keep the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip open for a full 12 hours every day, a Hamas leader said on Saturday, signalling a further shift in Cairo's stance since the election of a Muslim Brotherhood head of state in Egypt.

Ismail Haniyeh, prime minister of the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip, said that in addition to allowing the border to remain open an extra four hours, Egypt agreed to increase the number of Palestinians allowed to cross by about a third, to 1,500 a day. (Reuters)