CAIROL Egypt is to close the Rafah crossing on its border with the Gaza Strip until further notice on Monday, Egyptian security sources said.
Hamas, the Palestinian faction that controls Gaza, said it had been informed by Egypt of the decision to shut the crossing in both directions, without giving details.
According to two Egyptian security sources, the closure was made for security reasons following an escalation on Saturday between Israel and Hamas, with Israeli aircraft striking sites in Gaza after gunfire across Gaza’s border with Israel earlier in the day.
Rafah is the sole crossing between Egypt and Gaza, where an Israeli-led blockade has placed severe restrictions on the movement of goods and people for years.
Egypt had opened the crossing indefinitely in February in what was described as an effort to encourage negotiations between Palestinian factions meeting at the time in Cairo.
Egypt kept the crossing open during and after an 11-day conflict between Israel and Hamas in May, delivering aid and construction materials through Rafah after helping broker a truce between the two sides.
“We were informed by the Egyptian authorities that the Rafah crossing will be closed tomorrow, Monday, in both directions,” Iyad al-Bozom, a spokesman for the Gaza interior ministry, said in a statement Sunday evening.
Egypt had ordered the Rafah crossing to open in May to allow wounded Gazans to be treated in Egyptian hospitals and to deliver aid.
The opening came in the aftermath of the 11-day exchange of Hamas rocket fire and devastating Israeli air strikes, which also pushed Egypt to pledge $500-million towards Gaza’s reconstruction.
Egypt had brokered the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas which ended the hostilities. — Agencies
