The Rafah border crossing in southern Gaza Strip reopened Thursday morning following 45 days of closure.

A spokeswoman for the European Union monitoring team at the crossing said that the crossing would be reopened for 12 hours to allow Palestinians to cross into Egypt.

She voiced hope that the crossing would be opened completely, adding that the monitoring team is ready to be present at the crossing to oversee the movement of travelers. The Palestinians are not allowed to operate the terminal without the presence of the EU team.

The crossing was sealed off after Palestinian militants captured an Israeli soldier in a cross-border raid on June 25.

Source: Xinhua