Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas announced the opening of the Rafah crossing on the Gaza-Egypt border on Friday, marking the first time that Palestinians control a border.

Presiding over the opening ceremony of the key crossing, Abbas said the opening of Rafah, which had been under Israeli control for decades and remained shut since the Israeli Gaza pullout in September, carried great significance for Palestinians.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei, Minister of Civilian Affairs Mohammed Dahlan, the European Union's Mideast convoy Mark Otte, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abu Gheit, Egyptian intelligence chief Omer Suleiman and other foreign diplomats attended the ceremony.

Addressing the ceremony, Otte voiced hope that the re-opening of the Rafah crossing, the only exit for Gazans to travel abroad, would boost an upturn of the Gazan economy, badly damaged by over five years of violence between the Palestinians and Israel.

"Today is a historic day in the life of the Palestinian people as it is the first time ever they control a regional crossing that will help them improve their life and end their sufferings," Otte said.

The EU envoy also pledged to further help the Palestinians establish an independent state alongside a secure Israel.

Headed by senior Italian police officer Pietro Pistolis, about 20 EU observers wearing blue hats and dark-blue uniforms, have arrived at Rafah to carry out their mission to oversee the crossing, which is due to be re-opened on Saturday.

Leaders of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) Mahmoud Al-Zahar, Ismail Haneya and Sami Abu Zuhri also attended the high-profile gathering.

Al-Zahar was seen shaking hands with Dahlan and Egyptian and other foreign officials.

Hamas has voiced opposition to the Israeli-Palestinian agreement on Gaza borders, saying the deal was harmful to Palestinian national dignity.

Asked by reporters if his presence at the crossing means that Hamas accepts the Gaza border agreement, al-Zahar said, "Our presence here is symbolic and does not mean that we accept the whole agreement."

"We are here to say we only accept the positive parts of the agreement," said al-Zahar, vowing to continue fighting against the Israeli occupation.

The Rafah crossing will be open for four hours per day in the next 10 days as of Saturday. After that, it will be operated 24 hours a day when the number of EU observers increases to 70, according to Palestinian spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh.

The re-opening 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