Egypt to Reopen Rafah Border Crossing with Gaza for 4 Days

Palestinian Hamas-hired policemen stand at Rafah border crossing with Egypt, in the southern Gaza Strip on January 8, 2019. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
Palestinian Hamas-hired policemen stand at Rafah border crossing with Egypt, in the southern Gaza Strip on January 8, 2019. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
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Egypt to Reopen Rafah Border Crossing with Gaza for 4 Days

Palestinian Hamas-hired policemen stand at Rafah border crossing with Egypt, in the southern Gaza Strip on January 8, 2019. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
Palestinian Hamas-hired policemen stand at Rafah border crossing with Egypt, in the southern Gaza Strip on January 8, 2019. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

The Egyptian authorities will reopen the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip on Monday for four days for travel in both directions.

The Hamas-run Interior Ministry in Gaza declared that the Rafah crossing would open from Monday to Thursday.

The General Authority for Crossings revealed details on travel through the border during this period.

The Authority set a condition that travelers must head, solely, to conduct a PCR test a day before their travel. Also, it demanded holders of newly issued passports (2020) to instantly update their data at the ministry of interior directorates – each in his governorate.

The reopening of the crossing is the first since Nov. 27 when it was shut down by the Egyptian authorities. Since the outbreak of the pandemic in March, Cairo and Hamas have agreed on closing the border.

Every now and then Egypt opens the border for humanitarian cases.

This is the only crossing linking Gaza to the outside world. The second crossing is Erez crossing that connects Gaza and the West Bank to Israel.

Gazans require Egyptian security approval to cross to Egypt, and special permits in order to pass to the West Bank or Israel.



Blinken Speaks to Israel’s Dermer about Humanitarian Situation in Gaza

 A man sits on rubble of a house destroyed in an Israeli strike at the Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, on November 12, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)
A man sits on rubble of a house destroyed in an Israeli strike at the Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, on November 12, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)
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Blinken Speaks to Israel’s Dermer about Humanitarian Situation in Gaza

 A man sits on rubble of a house destroyed in an Israeli strike at the Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, on November 12, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)
A man sits on rubble of a house destroyed in an Israeli strike at the Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, on November 12, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken emphasized the importance of improving the humanitarian situation in Gaza in a meeting with Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer in Washington on Monday, the State Department said.

Dermer updated Blinken on operational changes and policy decisions taken by Israel in response to a US letter sent in October, the department said in a statement on Tuesday.

Blinken "emphasized the importance of ensuring those changes lead to an actual improvement in the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, including through the delivery of additional assistance to civilians throughout Gaza," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in the statement.