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Cairo Reopens Rafah Crossing after Hamas meeting with Egyptian
Cairo Reopens Rafah Crossing after Hamas meeting with Egyptian Officials
Kifah Ziboun Asharq Al Awsat 29 January 2017
http://english.aawsat.com/2017/01/article55366509/cairo-reopens-rafah-crossing-hamas-meeting-egyptian-officials
Ramallah- Egyptian authorities have reopened the Rafah crossing for
Palestinians residing in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip for the first time in
2017. Officials said the crossing is expected to remain open for the next
three days.
Hamas hailed the improvement established after senior political leader of
Hamas Ismail Haniyeh, returned from his meeting in Cairo’s Director of the
Egyptian General Intelligence Directorate (EGID) Khaled Fawzy.
Hamas called the Haniyeh’s visit to Cairo “successful” – this visit is the
first by the group’s top leader in over three years, according to Egypt’s
state-run news agency.
As a condition for the Egypt-Hamas ties to continue going north, Fawzy
demanded a greater cooperation from Hamas with respect to Egypt’s national
security, sources told Asharq Al-Awsat. More talks will be held in an effort
to outline Egyptian demands and the manner in which they would be responded
to.
Sources have also revealed that Hamas will be stepping up border security,
aiming to curb any influx or infiltration of extremists from or to Egypt.
Such an upgrade is expected to regulate the arms market, and inhibit any
Sinai-Gaza trade.
Extremists continue to hold land pockets and strongholds across the Sinai
Peninsula, serving as a land bridge between Asia and Africa. It is the only
part of Egyptian territory located in Asia.
Egyptian authorities have kept the Rafah crossing virtually sealed since a
terrorist attack in the Sinai Peninsula in October 2014, though they have
temporarily reopened the crossing several times since that attack, mostly
for the passage of humanitarian cases.
The crossing in northern Sinai, which will be opened for traffic in both
directions, is the only way for 1.8 million Palestinians living in Gaza to
enter and exit the strip.
Gaza has been under Israeli siege since 2006. The crossing was last opened
temporarily in mid-December 2016.
Source: http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=72102
