Egypt temporarily opens border crossing with Gaza Strip after 2-month closure amid blockade

Published May 21, 2015

Egypt has temporarily opened a crossing with the Gaza Strip for the first time in nearly two months.

The Rafah crossing was opened Monday for two days for students, patients seeking medical care and dual nationals. It was the first time it was opened since an Egyptian court declared the territory's rulers, Hamas, a terrorist organization.

The crossing's opening did not appear to signal a change in Egyptian policy. Egypt sealed the border crossing in October, citing security concerns, and has opened it intermittently since.

Some 1,200 people are expected to leave Gaza through the crossing.

Hamas seized Gaza by force in 2007, and the territory's borders have been largely sealed by Israel and Egypt since then. Egypt intensified the blockade after its military toppled a Hamas-friendly government in 2013.

URL

https://www.foxnews.com/world/egypt-temporarily-opens-border-crossing-with-gaza-strip-after-2-month-closure-amid-blockade