Egypt to open Rafah border amid high security in Gaza

CAIRO – 24 August 2017: The Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip will open for two days, August 27-28, Egyptian security official told Egypt Today on Friday.

The crossing was re-opened on both sides to allow humanitarian cases and Palestinian pilgrims to cross during Eid al-Adha, according to the agency.

Earlier this month, the border crossing was opened for four days on orders by President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi to allow the entry of similar cases.

A report by the Gaza's border authority said that the Egyptian authorities have permitted the return of 10 pilgrims and 104 passengers to Gaza since the crossing was last opened earlier this month.

It added that 1,209 Palestinian passengers were allowed to enter the Egyptian territory, including 100 Egyptian passport holders.

The Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Sinai is the only way for the 1.8 million Palestinians in Gaza who have been living under Israeli siege since 2006 to enter and exit the strip.

Due to lengthy closures of the Rafah crossing, many Palestinians on both sides of the crossing are left stranded for months at a time.

On the other hand, the Islamic Hamas movement tightened on Thursday its security measures on the Gaza Strip-Egypt border as part of a security plan to control the southern border of the Gaza Strip.

The Hamas Interior Ministry has begun to prepare a buffer zone between the Gaza Strip and its border with Egypt. The ministry stated that the works were intended to bolster security and strengthen the organization's control along the border.

Gaza security forces chief Tawfiq Abu Naim said the project was agreed upon during the last visit by a Hamas delegation to Egypt in June. The buffer zone will be 100 meters wide, stretching into the Palestinian side of the border, he said. It will be a closed military zone and will help monitor the border and prevent infiltration and smuggling.

Hamas and Egypt have had a long, unstable relationship, with the latter designating the Gaza-based movement a terrorist organization in 2013.