CAIRO, May 11, 2018 (WAFA) – Egyptian authorities decided on Friday to open the Rafah border crossing, on Egypt-Gaza border, for four days exceptionally starting from next Saturday, according to the Palestinian embassy in Cairo.

Egypt usually opens the crossing, which is the only gate of Gaza to the outside world, for three days every two or three months to allow movement of humanitarian cases, including students studying abroad, people with work permit and residency in other countries, mainly the Gulf states, and patients with severe medical cases seeking treatment outside the Gaza Strip.

Egypt was supposed to open the crossing continuously once the Palestinian Authority assumes full control of the Gaza Strip as part of reconciliation process between the ruling Fatah movement and Hamas.

M.N </s> Egypt will open the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip on Thursday, according to the Palestinian embassy in Cairo.



In a statement on Wednesday, the embassy said the terminal will remain open in both directions for three days as of Thursday. 



Egypt has kept the border terminal, which connects Gaza with Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, mostly sealed since the overthrow of former President Mohamed Morsi in a 2013 military coup, 



The long periods of closure at the crossing -- which represents Gaza's only point of access to the outside world not under Israeli control -- have brought the coastal enclave’s nearly 2 million inhabitants to the verge of humanitarian catastrophe. </s> Egypt will open the Rafah crossing temporarily for Palestinians to enter and exit the Gaza Strip, the PLO Embassy in Cairo announced on Wednesday.



Egyptian authorities last opened Rafah, the sole pedestrian passageway between Gaza and Egypt, more than two weeks ago.





Cairo decided to open the crossing from Thursday until Saturday, the embassy in Cairo announced, according to the official Palestinian Authority news site Wafa.Since Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi was removed from office in July 2013, Cairo has seldom opened Rafah. The crossing was open for 42 days in 2016 and for 36 days in 2017, according to Gisha – Legal Center for Freedom of Movement, an Israeli NGO that tracks human rights issues related to Gaza.Some 30,000 Gazans including students, business people and ill persons are on a waiting list to travel from Gaza to Egypt through Rafah.Palestinian officials have said Egypt frequently keeps the crossing closed because of the unstable security situation in the Sinai Peninsula.Israel also controls a pedestrian crossing with Gaza, the northern Erez crossing. While the country allows people to pass through it daily, it heavily limits the number of people who have access to it.The IDF holds that its restrictions on movement of people through Erez are in place for security purposes. </s> GAZA CITY: Egypt on Thursday opened its largely sealed border with the Israeli-blockaded Gaza Strip for three days, on the eve of more planned protests against Israel, Palestinian authorities said.

 In just the fourth such opening this year, the Rafah crossing to Egypt’s Sinai region will be open until Saturday for humanitarian cases, the interior ministry in Gaza said. An AFP photographer saw a first busload of 70 people, including women and children, crossing on Thursday morning.

 The opening comes ahead of a third consecutive Friday of planned mass protests along the Gaza-Israel border.

 Israeli media reports have said Egypt, one of only two Arab countries to have signed a peace treaty with the Jewish state, had been negotiating with Gaza’s rulers Hamas to seek to calm the crisis. Thirty-two Palestinians have been killed and hundreds wounded by Israeli forces since March 30 as thousands have approached the border fence and clashes have erupted.

 Israel says its forces have opened fire to stop attempts to damage the fence, infiltrations, bids to carry out attacks and at those seeking to harm soldiers.

 Palestinians say protesters are being shot while posing no threat to soldiers.

 The Rafah crossing is the only exit for Gaza residents except into Israel, but Egypt has largely sealed it in recent years, citing security threats.

 Egyptian authorities have had a strained relationship with Hamas, which began as an offshoot of Egypt’s banned Brotherhood.

 For more than a decade, Israel has imposed a crippling blockade on Gaza that critics say amounts to collective punishment of the coastal territory’s two million Palestinians.

 Israel says the blockade is necessary to isolate Hamas, with which it has fought three wars since 2008.

 In October, Egypt brokered a reconciliation agreement between Hamas and Fatah, the party of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, that was supposed to see Hamas give up power in Gaza.

 But the deal has collapsed, with the two Palestinian groups trading blame. — AFP </s> Egypt on Thursday opened its largely sealed border with the blockaded Gaza Strip for three days on the eve of more planned protests against Israel, Palestinian authorities said.

In the fourth such opening this year, the Rafah crossing to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula will be open until Saturday for humanitarian cases, the interior ministry in Gaza said.

An AFP photographer saw a first busload of 70 people, including women and children, crossing on Thursday morning.

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The opening comes ahead of a third consecutive Friday of planned mass protests along the Gaza-Israel border.

Israeli media reports have said Egypt had been negotiating with Hamas, the terror group which rules Gaza, to seek to calm the crisis.

Thirty-two Palestinians have been killed and thousands wounded by Israeli forces since March 30, according to the Hamas-run interior ministry in Gaza, as thousands have approached the border fence and clashes have erupted.

Israel says its forces have opened fire to stop attempts to harm soldiers, damage the fence, infiltrate Israel and attempt to carry out attacks. Palestinians say protesters are being shot while posing no threat to soldiers.

The Rafah crossing is the only exit for Gaza residents except into Israel, but Egypt has largely sealed it in recent years, citing security threats.

Friday will mark the third week in a row of mass Palestinian protests dubbed the “March of Return.” Hamas leaders have told demonstrators the ultimate goal is to erase the border and liberate Palestine.

The protests, near the border with Israel, drew some 30,000 Palestinians on the first Friday, and around 20,000 on the second.

While some of the protesters appeared peaceful, groups of rioters tried to approach the fence, despite Israeli warnings not to do so, to throw firebombs and rocks at Israeli forces on the other side, to try to breach the fence or to plant explosives along it. Protesters burned large numbers of tires last Friday to create a smokescreen blocking Israeli troops’ ability to see.

The Palestinians have always demanded, along with sovereignty in the West Bank, Gaza, East Jerusalem and the Old City, a “right of return” to Israel for Palestinian refugees who left or were forced out of Israel when it was established. The Palestinians demand this right not only for those of the hundreds of thousands of refugees who are still alive — a figure estimated in the low tens of thousands — but also for their descendants, who number in the millions.

No Israeli government would ever be likely to accept this demand, since it would spell the end of Israel as a Jewish-majority state. Israel’s position is that Palestinian refugees and their descendants would become citizens of a Palestinian state at the culmination of the peace process, just as Jews who fled or were forced out of Middle Eastern countries by hostile governments became citizens of Israel.

Egyptian authorities have had a strained relationship with Hamas, which began as an offshoot of Egypt’s banned Muslim Brotherhood.

In October, Egypt brokered a reconciliation agreement between Hamas and Fatah, the party of Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas, that was supposed to see the terror group give up power in Gaza.

But the deal has collapsed, with the two Palestinian groups trading blame. </s> The only goods crossing between Gaza and Israel was closed until further notice Saturday, Israeli and Palestinian officials said, after Palestinian protesters ransacked it.

The Palestinian side of Kerem Shalom crossing in southern Gaza was badly damaged by dozens of demonstrators late Friday during a day of protests along the border, the Israeli army said.

The Israeli side of the crossing, several hundred metres away, was not breached.

"The crossing will remain closed until the damages caused by the riots are repaired and will reopen in accordance with a situation assessment," an army statement said, saying the fuel terminal at the crossing had been rendered "totally unusable".

It accused the protesters of being "under the auspices of Hamas", the Islamist group that runs the Gaza strip, without providing evidence.

The Palestinian body in charge of coordination at the crossing confirmed the closure.

Kerem Shalom is the only crossing open to transport goods into and out of Gaza, including fuel and food.

Separately Egypt opened its border crossing with Gaza -- the only one not with Israel -- for four days Saturday.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians are expected to protest along the Israeli border Monday against the moving of the US embassy to Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. </s> By The Associated Press

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s defense minister has announced he will reopen the country’s main personnel crossing with the Gaza Strip following a week of relative calm along the border.

Avigdor Lieberman said Sunday that after consultation with the country’s security agencies, he ordered the opening of the Erez border crossing on Monday.

The decision to reopen the crossing comes amid efforts by Egypt to mediate a possible ceasefire between Gaza’s Hamas rulers and Israel following weeks of intense violence at the border.

The sides have come close to serious conflict in recent weeks, as militants have fired rockets at Israel, which responded with airstrikes.

Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip and doesn’t recognize Israel, seeks an easing of the decade-long, crippling Israeli-Egyptian blockade on the Palestinian territory in exchange for a lasting truce.

Copyright © 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed. </s> A truck carrying goods to Palestinians arrives at Kerem Shalom crossing in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday.

A truck carrying goods to Palestinians arrives at Kerem Shalom crossing in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday. Photo: SAID KHATIB/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

TEL AVIV— Israel reopened Gaza’s only commercial crossing on Wednesday, removing severe restrictions put in place last month as talks progress over a long-term cease-fire deal between the two sides.

The opening of the Kerem Shalom crossing is expected to further ease tensions as a fragile truce has largely held since intense clashes last week.

“I decided to reopen the Kerem Shalom crossing ... as a clear message to the residents of the Gaza Strip: peace and quiet are worth it and violence is not,” Avigdor Lieberman, Israel’s defense minister, said in a video posted on Facebook .

“The residents of Gaza have much to gain when the citizens of Israel enjoy peace and security, and much to lose when quiet is disturbed,” he added.

Israel closed the crossing on July 9 to pressure Gaza ruler Hamas to stop launching flaming balloons and kites into Israeli territory, allowing only food and sometimes fuel through as Palestinians continue to protest at the fence dividing the strip from Israel.

Hamas and Israel have also clashed, most recently on Thursday when the extremist group launched more than 200 rockets and mortars into Israel and Israel responded with waves of airstrikes aimed at what it said were Hamas military targets. Both sides have reached a series of shaky temporary cease-fires since May.

Egypt and the United Nations are mediating for a longer-term peace agreement between Israel and Hamas, but talks have been slowed by the outbreaks of violence.

Israel’s security cabinet is set to meet Wednesday to discuss a possible longer-term cease-fire arrangement. Officials from Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other Palestinian groups returned to Egypt on Wednesday for talks on reconciling warring Palestinian factions and reaching a long-term truce with Israel.

The Palestinian Central Council, a legislative-type body of groups in the Palestinian Liberation Organization, is also set to meet in Ramallah on Wednesday where Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will likely talk about the ongoing discussions.

Israel’s prime minister is facing pressure from the right over accepting a long-term agreement because critics say it could allow Hamas time to build up its rockets supply.

Naftali Bennett, a member of the security cabinet and the education minister, said his Jewish Home Party would oppose an agreement based on what he called temporary calm.

“After 130 days under attack and rocket fire, we must not reward terrorists without the return of our captives and our fallen. The terrorists will learn that terror pays, and Israel’s power of deterrent will be harmed,” he said in a statement.

Any long-term settlement must include arrangements for the return of Israeli citizens held in Gaza as well as the bodies of Israeli soldiers Gaza is holding, Mr. Lieberman said.

Israel and Egypt have imposed a blockade on the Gaza Strip since Hamas took control more than a decade ago. The restrictions have severely harmed Gaza’s economy, plunging the strip into humanitarian crisis. Residents face critical shortages of food, electricity and medicine.

Israel defends the blockade and other restrictions as necessary for protecting its security, as Israel considers Hamas a terror organization.

Also Wednesday, Israel expanded Gaza’s allowed fishing area to nine nautical miles after it had previously curtailed it to three nautical miles. Israel controls how far out Gaza’s fisherman can fish, and sometimes decreases the radius as punishment or as a security measure.

Palestinians have been demonstrating at the border fence separating Gaza and Israel since March. The protesters are calling for the right to return to homes in what is now Israel, which Israel opposes because it would threaten the country’s Jewish majority.

The protests have often turned violent, with some people throwing Molotov cocktails, launching flaming kites and burning tires. Israel has responded to the protests with live fire, killing more than 150 people. Israel says the response is necessary to protect its border. </s> Jerusalem: Israel closed the Kerem Shalom border crossing with the Gaza Strip on Saturday, a day after the terminal was damaged during protests by Palestinians that turned violent.

Dozens of Palestinian demonstrators broke into the Gaza side of the terminal on Friday, setting a pipeline that delivers gas from Israel alight and torching a goods conveyor belt.

The violence caused damage to the terminal, where humanitarian supplies are delivered, which is estimated at more than $9 million, Israeli officials said.

“The crossing will remain closed until the damage caused by the riots are repaired and will reopen in accordance with a situation assessment,” the Israeli military said, adding that in the meantime it will be opened for humanitarian cases only.

More than two million people are packed into the narrow coastal enclave of Gaza, where poverty and unemployment rates are high.

The incursion took place during a weekly mass protest in which thousand of Palestinians gathered along the Israel-Gaza frontier. Crowds of Palestinians clashed with Israeli soldiers and one Palestinian was killed by Israeli gunfire.

More than 40 Palestinians have been killed during six weeks of protests and tens of thousands of Gazans are expected at tented border encampments in the coming days.

Gaza is run by the Islamist Hamas movement, which Israel and the West designate a terrorist organization. Citing security concerns, Israel maintains tight control over its land and sea borders. Egypt also restricts movement in and out of Gaza.
Egypt, citing humanitarian reasons, opens the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula for three days.