RAFAH: Egypt on Tuesday opened its border crossing with the Israeli-blockaded Gaza Strip, “indefinitely” allowing the coastal strip’s people passage to the outside world, a security source said.

Gaza residents crossing the Rafah border point on Tuesday expressed a mixture of relief and bitterness.

“I’ve been waiting for six months for the crossing to open,” university student Ibrahim al-Shanti, 19, said.

“The repeated closures have cost me a semester of my studies. I hope it’s really permanent.” Cairo took the step while hosting talks between Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, and Fatah, which runs the Palestinian Authority in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

The rival movements, along with other Palestinian factions, are discussing holding parliamentary and presidential votes later this year, their first in 15 years. The Rafah crossing has been largely closed in recent months as part of efforts to rein in the coronavirus pandemic, although it has intermittently opened for short periods.

An Egyptian security source said that “this isn’t a routine or normal opening. This is the first time in years that the Rafah border crossing is opening indefinitely. It used to open only three or four days at a time.”

Published in Dawn, February 10th, 2021