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Egypt Opens Gaza Border Crossing


Rafah, Gaza
Rafah, Gaza

Egypt opened its Rafah border crossing with Gaza in both directions Saturday for the first time in three months.

The crossing is scheduled to be opened for three days, allowing Palestinians to travel in and out of the Gaza Strip.

Nickolay Mladenov, the U.N. Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, said earlier this past week that he hoped "security conditions will allow for this decision to be extended and that Rafah can be open on a regular basis."

Egypt has kept its Rafah crossing largely shut since Cairo's Islamist president was toppled by the army in 2013.

Egypt briefly opened Rafah last month to allow stranded Palestinians to return home.

Gaza's access to Egypt is the only border, including the Mediterranean Sea, not controlled by Israel.

Some material for this report comes from AP and Reuters.

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