Gaza Rafah border reopens, Egypt allows two day travel reprieve at crossing

World Today

Egypt is home to one of the few major border crossing linking Gaza to the outside world. However, for nearly two months, the Rafah border crossing has been closed. As CCTV America’s Noor Harazeen reported from Gaza. 

Egyptian authorities decided to open the Rafah crossing with Gaza for two days starting Dec.21 for those stuck in the Gaza Strip trying to reach Egypt as well as to allow humanitarian aid to enter the besieged coastal enclave.

The Rafah border is Gaza’s 1.8 million people’s gate to the outside world. A terrorist attack happened in Sinai 2 month ago killing 33 Egyptian soldiers. A group claimed responsibility, and despite the fact that it had no link to Gaza’s resistance brigades, Egypt decided to close Rafah border until farther notice. Egypt opened the border allowing only cancer and kidney failure patients to leave the enclave on Sunday, however other residents in Gaza, including students, were still stuck in the Gaza strip waiting for the Egyptian authorities to reopen it again.

After the 2013 coup, which deposed President Mohamed Morsi, Egypt’s army has repeatedly closed the Rafah border crossing and destroyed hundreds of tunnels that Gazans used for years to import fuel, building materials and other goods.