Thousands of Palestinians cross Gaza-Egypt border

Thousands of Palestinians, stranded on both sides of Gaza-Egypt border crossing point, had crossed into Gaza and Egypt following a two-month closure, Palestinian Crossing Spokesman said on Saturday.

Wa'el Dahab said that it was agreed to temporarily open the crossing for two days, Friday and Saturday, to enable thousands of Palestinians to cross.

"The crossing was decided to be reopened for two days following joint talks among Palestinians, Egyptians, Israelis and European Monitors," said Dahab.

He added that the Palestinians and the Europeans received Israeli guarantees to keep the crossing opened for two days, hoping that the crossing would be kept opened for longer times.

Thousands of Palestinians, who live abroad, mainly in several Arab countries, went back to Gaza on summer vacation but were stranded there due to the closure of a Rafah border crossing on June 25 when three militant groups abducted an Israeli soldier during an armed attack on an Israeli army base in southeastern Gaza.

Meanwhile, hundreds of Gaza residents, who were abroad, mainly students, patients and businessmen, were unable to cross the borders into Gaza due to the closure of the terminal following the attack.

Israel pulled out from the crossing and the whole Gaza Strip in Sept. 2005, and refused to handover the crossing to the Palestinian side.

It was re-operated in last November under a U.S.-brokered deal, which said that the Rafah border crossing would be opened under a European Union (EU) observation.

Israel prevented EU monitors from reaching the crossing following the June 25 armed attack, and threatened to airstrike the crossing if the Palestinians operate it by themselves.

Source: Xinhua