CAIRO

Egyptian authorities partially opened the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, after closing it for five days.

“The Egyptian side informed us that the terminal will be opened in both directions for four hours a day,” Maher Abu Sobha, the director of borders and crossings in the Gaza government, told Anadolu Agency.

He said people stranded on both sides of the border crossing will be allowed in, in addition to humanitarian cases.

More than 3,000 Palestinians are currently stranded on the Egyptian since.

The Palestinian official regretted that the working hours would not be enough to meet the needs of the Palestinian people, noting that thousands of them are stranded and need to travel.

The Egyptian army closed the crossing, Gaza's only gateway to the outside world that surpasses Israel, on Friday, two days after the overthrow of elected president Mohammad Morsi.

It remained closed for five consecutive days.