CAIRO
Egypt will open the Rafah border crossing with the embattled Gaza Strip during the upcoming Eid al-Fitr holiday, which marks the end of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, an official source at the terminal said Sunday.
The crossing would be opened as of Monday until Thursday to receive Palestinians wounded during the ongoing Israeli onslaught against the blockaded Palestinian enclave and for the access of relief assistance and fuel into the strip, the source told Anadolu Agency on the condition of anonymity.
Since last summer's ouster of Mohamed Morsi – Egypt's first freely elected president – by the army, Egypt has kept the Rafah border crossing closed for the most part.
Egypt's army-backed authorities generally only open the crossing for exceptional cases and for limited periods of time.
The Egypt-Gaza Rafah border terminal represents the embattled coastal strip's only window to the outside world outside Israeli control.
At least 1061 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed in unrelenting Israeli attacks on the blockaded Gaza Strip since July 7, while more than 6300 have been injured, many critically.
Israel's operation "Protective Edge," which continued unabated on Friday, is the self-proclaimed Jewish state's third major offensive against the densely-populated Gaza Strip – home to some 1.8 million Palestinians – within the last six years.
In 2008/09, over 1500 Palestinians were killed – the vast majority of them civilians – during Israel's three-week-long "Operation Cast Lead."
www.aa.com.tr/en
