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Egypt temporarily reopens Rafah crossing point with Gaza

Xinhua, November 14, 2016 Adjust font size:

Egypt temporarily reopened on Monday Rafah crossing point with the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip for five days.

Mohamed Odwan, the Palestinian director of the Hamas-run part of the crossing, told reporters that the crossing was reopened to enable around 25,000 Gaza Strip residents to travel from Gaza to Egypt and then to the entire world.

Rafah crossing point is the only crossing for around 2 million people residents of the Gaza Strip, that has been ruled by Hamas movement since the summer of 2007.

Eyewitnesses and workers at Rafah crossing said that four buses with full of passengers had already crossed from the Palestinian side to the Egyptian side.

"Reopening Rafah crossing point for five days is a positive step that we highly appreciate," said Odwan, adding "We hope the temporary opening of the crossing will be a positive introduction for a permanent reopening of the crossing."

Last week, Egypt reopened Rafah crossing point for one day to enable the return of 100 Palestinian figures, which included businessmen, notables and civil society activists, to the Gaza Strip.

The 100-figure delegation joined a three-day workshop held in a Red Sea resort in Egypt to discuss the urgent needs of the coastal enclave's populations and the improving of their hard living conditions. Endit