Palestinians wait to cross Rafah border crossing
Rafah Crossing to open for fourth day this week
In an apparent gesture preceding the holiday of Ramadan, Egypt allows a couple thousand travelers to pass through the Rafah Crossing; Egypt also allows cement and building materials to pass into Gaza; nonetheless, thousands of Gazans are still stranded and have not been able to travel
Egypt opened the Rafah crossing for three days this week and announced that it will remain open on Sunday, as well. Egypt has opened the crossing only a handful of times since the overthrow of former Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi, leaving many Gazans unable to travel outside the small coastal enclave.
According to the Ma'an News Agency, 499 travelers crossed the Rafah Crossing on Thursday, 1,136 travelers crossed on Friday and 900 crossed on Saturday. The travelers included humanitarian cases, stranded travelers, students studying abroad and others.
Rafah crossing (Photo: Reuters)
Hamas authorities canceled the border crossing workers' vacations to provide the best possible service to travelers. Approximately 30,000 people would like to cross out of Gaza into Egypt, according to Safa News Agency.
Egyptian authorities also allowed the passage of cement and other building materials into Rafah.
Director of Operations at the Rafah Crossing Hisham Adwan revealed that there are efforts to extend the opening of the crossing for additional days. Howver, Safa News Agency reported that no agreement has yet to have been reached.
