Rafah border crossing operates for 2nd day in a row

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Sun, 17 Dec 2017 - 10:39 GMT

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Sun, 17 Dec 2017 - 10:39 GMT

A Palestinian boy waits with his family for a travel permit to cross into Egypt through the Rafah border crossing after it was opened by Egyptian authorities for humanitarian cases, in the southern Gaza Strip December 17, 2017. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustaf

A Palestinian boy waits with his family for a travel permit to cross into Egypt through the Rafah border crossing after it was opened by Egyptian authorities for humanitarian cases, in the southern Gaza Strip December 17, 2017. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustaf

CAIRO - 17 December 2017: Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza opened for the second day in a row on Sunday in both directions

The crossing will open for more two days to allow the passage of stranded Palestinian travelers and humanitarian aid.to allow the passage of stuck travelers.

On Saturday, a total of 729 passengers crossed the border from both directions; 529 passengers, including 25 patients, crossed to the Egyptian territories from Gaza, while 200 others travelled to Gaza, an Egyptian official told Egypt Today on Sunday on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to brief the media.

Health ministry office in North Sinai provided more ambulances at the border to transport the Palestinian patients to the Egyptian hospitals, he added.

The crossing was only opened exceptionally a few times since a major militant attack in North Sinai’s Sheikh Zewuid that killed some 27 military personnel in October 2014.

The Gaza Strip has six border crossings with Israel and only Rafah crossing was the only entrance gate for the Palestinians in the strip since Israel has imposed blockade on the strip in 2007. So many of Palestinians be stranded in Egyptian airports and other Palestinian patients could be stranded in Gaza waiting for the border reopening for receiving medical care in the Egyptian hospitals.

In October, the rival Palestinian movements Fatah and Hamas signed a reconciliation agreement in Cairo under Egypt’s auspices. The Palestinian National Authority is due to resume control of the Gaza Strip by December 1, as per the reconciliation agreement.

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