GAZA CITY, Feb 22: Hundreds of people went into and out of the Gaza Strip on Sunday after Egypt opened the Rafah crossing, the enclave’s sole crossing that bypasses the Jewish state, a Hamas official said.

The Rafah crossing opened at around 9am and was expected to remain open for three days, said Adel Zurub. After seven hours, some 420 people had left Gaza and 230 entered the Palestinian coastal territory, he added.

Rafah has been largely closed since June 2006, when Gaza militants seized an Israeli soldier in a deadly cross-border raid.

Under a 2005 agreement struck after Israel withdrew settlers and soldiers from Gaza, Rafah was operated jointly by Egyptian and Palestinian officials with European Union observers and cameras allowing Israel live surveillance.

Hamas seized power in Gaza in June 2007 after deadly street clashes with rivals from Fatah movement of President Mahmud Abbas.

Since then, Israel has tightened its blockade on the impoverished enclave where most of the 1.4 million inhabitants survive on foreign aid.

Meanwhile, power-sharing talks between Hamas and Fatah would begin on Wednesday in Cairo, said Azzam Al Ahmed, a Fatah official in the West Bank.

Hamas officials reiterated on Sunday that Fatah must first release hundreds of Hamas prisoners, but it’s not clear if Hamas would walk away from the talks if its demands were not met.

Efforts to form a unity government have failed in the past. However, after Israel’s recent Gaza offensive, both sides have stronger motives to try to make it work.

Hamas needs a unity deal to end the blockade of Gaza and be considered a partner by the international community in rebuilding the territory. International donor countries are meeting in Egypt on March 2 for a pledging conference, to raise money for Gaza’s reconstruction.

Hamas will remain sidelined unless it moderates and allows President Abbas a foothold in Gaza. Mr Abbas, meanwhile, has overstayed his term as president and needs a partnership with Hamas to shore up his dwindling political legitimacy.—Agencies