AhlulBayt News Agency - The Egyptian authorities on Sunday morning opened the Rafah border crossing for the fourth day for the travel of a limited number of passengers.
Only 10 buses carrying a total of 1,008 passengers had left Gaza yesterday through the Rafah crossing.
According to the border and crossings authority in Gaza, five ambulances carrying a number of wounded and sick citizens also crossed into the Egyptian side on Saturday.
Last Thursday, 369 Palestinian passengers, who were stranded in Egypt, were able to enter Gaza, while the Egyptian authorities rejected the travel requests of 40 others and prevented them from leaving Gaza.
During the last two days, 2,256 passengers left for Egypt through the crossing, 301 others entered Gaza and 113 citizens were denied entry to the Egyptian territories with no stated reasons.
Palestinian media sources have expected that the Egyptian authorities may open the Rafah crossing for two additional days, but there is still no official confirmation in this regard.
Haneyya urges Egypt to keep Rafah crossing open permanently
Deputy political bureau head of Hamas, Ismail Haneyya, on Sunday urged the Egyptian authorities to keep the Rafah border crossing open around the clock.
Speaking during the al-Quds and al-Aqsa Festival held by Hamas, Haneyya said: “We are quite aware of Egypt’s needs in terms of national security. We, Gazans, have done our best to boost security along the borders.”
He added that Hamas has no military activity in Sinai or elsewhere.
The Hamas official called on the Palestinian people and Muslim nation to adopt a unified strategy to face up to the Israeli occupation.
He stressed Hamas’s ongoing efforts to boost national unity and preserve the bonds of all accords signed with regional and international parties.
Haneyya hailed the Palestinian protesters and anti-occupation activists in Occupied Jerusalem, the West Bank, and 1948 Occupied Palestine.
He called for protecting the Jerusalem Intifada and warned of underway attempts to snuff out the flames of anti-occupation activism.
“As we are going through an exceptional phase in our journey of national liberation, we need to pluck up our courage and come up with challenging decisions,” he further stated.
“The uprising is the choice of a people and of a generation that is tracking the road towards the liberation of their motherland,” Haneyya concluded.
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