Egypt on Saturday opened its border with Gaza Strip to allow stranded Palestinians and Egyptians to cross in two directions, Palestinian security sources said.
Five buses have left the Gaza Strip through Rafah crossing when its gates opened Saturday morning and one bus has entered the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, the sources added.
The crossing will remain open until late Sunday, Hamas' interior ministry said, adding the gesture was intended to ease the suffering of the stranded people prior to the beginning of Muslim's holy fasting month of Ramadan in early September.
Some 150 Egyptians, who have been stuck in Gaza since January, will return home in addition to hundreds of Palestinians who live outside Gaza, according to Ihab al-Ghussein, spokesman for the ministry.
In total, 1200 people are expected to pass through the Rafah crossing in the two directions on Saturday and 400 Palestinian patients will leave for medical treatment in Egypt on Sunday, al-Ghussein said.
Hamas security forces took measures to prevent the flow of tens of thousands of Palestinians to the crossing, setting checkpoints to allow only the patients and the stranded residents of foreign countries whom Hamas declared their names earlier.
The Rafah crossing was completely closed last year when Hamas routed security forces of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and ousted his Fatah movement.
Since then, the travel via Rafah crossing was limited to the urgent medical cases, stranded students and representatives of Hamas and other Palestinian groups.
According to a U.S.-brokered protocol, the crossing can not open without the presence of pro-Abbas forces and European Union monitors. Hamas demands to control the crossing instead of the presidential guard forces while the EU monitors don't recognize the Islamic movement.
Source:Xinhua
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