Egypt partially opened the Rafah crossing between the Gaza Strip and its territories to enable Gaza pilgrims to return home, officials said on Wednesday.

About 4,300 pilgrims will start leaving Mecca Wednesday, flying to Egypt en route to Gaza. The Rafah crossing will open for seven to nine days, said Ghazi Hamad, crossings director at the Hamas government in Gaza.

The Palestinian ambassador in Cairo Barakat El-Farrah announced that they have completed the whole preparations to ensure quick pilgrims return.

Egypt opens its borders with Gaza only before humanitarian cases as long as the Islamic Hamas movement holds sway in the coastal enclave.

Hamas does not recognize a US-brokered protocol that Rafah can operate with the existence of EU monitors and forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

(Xinhua News Agency December 3, 2009)