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UN hails opening of Rafah crossing, encourages Egypt to expand opening

Xinhua, May 12, 2016 Adjust font size:

The United Nations on Wednesday welcomed the opening of the Rafah border crossing into the Gaza Strip for two days, the first time in three months, and also encouraged Egypt to expand the opening both in time and in volume in order to help a flow of much needed assistance into the besieged strip, a UN spokesman told reporters here.

"The (UN) Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) welcomed the opening, which may hopefully provide some relief to the people of the enclosed Strip, exacerbated by the longstanding Israeli blockade," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said at a daily news briefing here. "The UN also encouraged Egypt to expand the opening both in time and in volume, and include a flow of much needed assistance."

Earlier Wednesday, Egypt opened the Rafah crossing with Gaza in both directions for two days, the spokesman noted. "The passage was opened after 85 consecutive days being closed -- the longest such period since 2007."

The last time the crossing was opened was on Feb. 13 for three days. The crossing has opened partially for only 42 days since October 2014.

Authorities in Gaza indicated that more than 30,000 people, including around 9,500 medical cases and 2,700 students, are registered and waiting to cross and are only allowed to pass through Egypt, he said.

The Gazan Interior Ministry announced two weeks ago its plan to deploy 500 extra security men along the borders with Egypt, and increasing military posts along the border from 20 to 60 posts.

A high-ranking delegation from the Islamic Hamas movement controlling the Gaza Strip since 2007 visited Cairo in April in order to normalize bilateral relations.

Ties between Hamas and Egyptian leaders fluctuated in 2013, following the ouster of former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi as well as Egypt's accusation regarding Hamas's interference in its internal affairs.

Ever since the internal split between Hamas and President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party, Egypt has sponsored the reconciliation dialogue between both sides.

It also successfully brokered a prisoner swap deal between Palestinians and Israelis in addition to three ceasefire agreements since 2008. Enditem