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Feature: Palestinians in Gaza urge reopening of Rafah crossing with Egypt

Xinhua, April 28, 2015 Adjust font size:

Mohamed Sa'eed, a cancer patient from the Gaza Strip, can hardly bear the pain of his worsening conditions.

Lying on a bed at Shiffa Hospital in Gaza City, Sa'eed dreams of a constantly open Rafah crossing point for him to get timely treatment in Egypt across the border.

For now, the 45-year-old patient can only wait for the reopening of the crossing point, which was open for a mere five days this year.

Sa'eed said he cannot go to Israel through Erez crossing point because of security reasons. "I hope Rafah crossing opens soon."

His family members feared if the Rafah crossing remains closed, Sa'eed could die soon.

Patients and students are among those mostly affected by the closure of Rafah crossing.

According to an official figure issued by health ministry in Gaza, there are 3,500 patients in the Strip whose lives are threatened if they are not transferred to any other hospitals abroad for urgent medical treatment.

Ashraf al-Qedra, spokesman of Gaza health ministry, told Xinhua that the closure of Rafah crossing and a ban on dozens of patients from travelling to Israel for "security reasons" are "threatening the lives of those patients, mainly cancer patients who need long term intensive medical treatment."

Many patients need to travel abroad for treatment because of limited capabilities at Gaza hospitals, which have been impacted by a prolonged blockade.

"Thirty percent of consumed medicines used to be brought to the Gaza Strip through Rafah crossing," al-Qedra said. "We wanted to bring our medicines from countries that are not related to the Israeli occupation."

Israeli has imposed a tight blockade on the Gaza Strip for the seven years since Hamas violently seized the control of the coastal enclave.

Before the blockade, humanitarian delegations used to come to Gaza to help patients and hospitals there. But after the closure, much fewer delegations came.

Rafah border crossing, between southern Gaza Strip and Egypt, has been closed since March 9, after Egypt reopened it for three days to allow stranded Palestinians in Egypt to return to the Gaza Strip.

Palestinian officials at the crossing said that there are 90,000 Palestinians who need to travel abroad. They include patients, students, businesspeople, and those who want to visit relatives abroad.

Ahmed Khalil is one of the students waiting for the reopening of Rafah crossing so that he could continue his Ph.D. study at an Australian university.

Khalil, who got his master's degree in Malaysia, returned to Gaza last September to attend the wedding of his eldest brother, only to get stuck inside the enclave.

"Rafah crossing for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip is like oxygen," Khalil said. "I hope that one day the crossing will reopen."

Egypt closed the Rafah border crossing following deadly attacks in north Sinai by extremist militants that left many many security personnel dead and injured.

Maher Abu Sabha, head of the Crossings and Borders Corporation, said the Palestinian side does not know when Egypt will reopen the crossing point.

The closure has angered many Palestinians.

Rami Abdo, a rights activist, said the ongoing closure of by the Egyptian authorities "is a collective punishment to the populations of the entire Gaza Strip." Endit