Richard Gilmore
Banned
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Egypt ends its closure on Gaza Strip, opens Rafah crossing indefinitely - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel NewsHa'aretz said:Egypt says it has lifted its closure on the Gaza Strip indefinitely, one week after the Israel Navy's flotilla raid heightened international interest in the plight of the Hamas-ruled enclave.
A spokesman for the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, Hossam Zaki, announced Tuesday that the Rafah crossing that connects Gaza to Egypt will remain open indefinitely.
However, Egypt has yet to permit fully free passage of Palestinians into its territory.
The only Gazans allowed into Sinai are those with specially obtained permits, including sick people, students and others who receive the approval of the Egyptian security forces.
The border crossing was reopened eight days ago immediately after the Israel Navy's storming of a Turkish ship carrying humanitarian aid, activists and members of the controversial group IHH. In the operation, Israeli commandos killed nine people on board.
Cairo announced that it will keep Rafah open "until further notice." Since last week, thousands of Palestinians crossed into Sinai after months of not being able to leave Gaza.
In practice, the Egyptian regime was Israel's partner in instituting the blockade.
Officials in Jerusalem often claimed that it was Cairo that lobbied Israel to tighten the blockade as a way to pressure Hamas to release kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit and agree to terms on a Palestinian unity government.
"Egypt is the one that is breaking the blockade," said Zaki. "We will not allow the [Israeli] occupation to evade its responsibility."
While allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza via Rafah, Egypt, like Israel, is not permitting construction materials to pass.
Before lifting the closure, Egypt did not allow students and ill Palestinians to leave Gaza, though it did grant entry to Palestinians who obtained special permits. Cairo also limited entry to Hamas legislators as part of its blockade.
The Egyptian closure resulted in a number of violent incidents between its security forces and those of Hamas along the Gaza border.
The most publicized clash happened two years ago, when thousands of Palestinians knocked down the wall that stretches along the boundary with Sinai and entered the peninsula while Egyptian soldiers failed to stop them.
After the incident, Egypt reiterated its position that the Rafah crossing would be opened and closed according to the terms stipulated in the border-passage agreement signed with Israel and the European Union.
This agreement states that the Rafah crossing must be staffed by a contingent of forces from the Palestinian Authority's Presidential Guard, which is loyal to PA President Mahmoud Abbas, and a European supervisory force.
Due to the rift between Hamas and Abbas' Fatah faction, no agreement has been reached over the stationing of the Presidential Guard. The PA is dissatisfied with Egypt's decision to reopen Rafah because it fears that the move will further enable Hamas to solidify its rule over the Gaza Strip.
Hamas ousted Fatah militias from Gaza in a bloody coup three years ago.
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden met on Monday with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Sharm el-Sheikh. Both leaders discussed new ways to deal with the situation in Gaza.
tl;dr: Egypt half opens Rafah Crossing.
