Palestinians are ready to hold on Friday an opening ceremony of the Rafah crossing on the Gaza-Egypt border, the only exit for Palestinians to travel abroad which had been under Israeli control for decades.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is to host the ceremony at the Rafah crossing, which will also be attended by Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei and Minister of Civilian Affairs Mohammed Dahlan.

The European Union's Mideast convoy Mark Otte and other Arab and foreign representatives are expected to arrive early on Friday afternoon at the crossing to attend the ceremony.

A huge tent has been erected at the crossing at a parking lot at Rafah, where hundreds of chairs and a podium were placed.

Several workers were seen fixing microphones on the temporary ceremony venue.

Palestinian spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh told reporters earlier in the day that the Rafah crossing will start operation on Saturday morning.

"Palestinians can cross through the Rafah crossing starting from Saturday. Rafah will be operated for four hours per day for 10 days and after that, it will be open 24 hours a day," said Abu Rudeineh.

It will be the first time ever that the Palestinians control the crossing which was shut shortly before Israel began its Gaza pullout after 38 years of occupation.

The reopening of the Rafah crossing came after a long-awaited agreement clinched between the Palestinians and Israel on Nov. 15 under the brokerage of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during a regional visit.

According to the agreement, the Rafah crossing will be jointly operated by Palestinian and Egyptian security under the oversight of EU observers.

Meanwhile, Israeli and Palestinian security officers will use remote-control cameras installed at the crossing to monitor the movement of people and goods in a joint control room several kilometers away from Rafah.

Source: Xinhua