GAZA CITY: Nearly 2,500 people left Gaza during a three-day humanitarian opening of the border with Egypt, a rare opportunity for Gazans to leave the blockaded enclave, authorities in the Palestinian territory said Tuesday.
Hamas said 2,439 people left the territory over the three days, while 1,122 entered and 334 were turned back by Egyptian authorities. The border was closed again on Tuesday, Hamas said, after “Egyptian authorities informed us of the shutting down of the Rafah crossing.”
Egypt originally opened the border for humanitarian cases for two days from Saturday but that was extended for an extra day on Monday.
Before Saturday, the crossing had been closed for 70 days, the Hamas-run Interior Ministry said. The United Nations has registered 30,000 Palestinians as “humanitarian cases” seeking to leave Gaza. At the crossing, long lines of Gazans queued, many carrying heavy suitcases.
Sarah Abu Karesh, a woman waiting at the crossing on Saturday, told AFP she had been trying to leave the territory for months. The crossing is Gaza’s only access point not controlled by Israel, which has maintained a blockade on the territory for nearly a decade.
The border was largely open during the rule of Egyptian president Muhammad Mursi, whose Muslim Brotherhood movement has close ties with the fellow Islamists of Hamas.
Egypt closes Gaza border after rare opening
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