GAZA (AA) - Egyptian authorities reopened the Rafah border crossing linking Egypt's Sinai Peninsula to the besieged Gaza Strip for a five-day period on Tuesday.
"The terminal was opened at 10am and five trucks carrying 350 people were allowed into Egypt [from Gaza]," Maher Abu Sabha, head of Gaza's border authority, told the Anadolu Agency.
Gaza's Interior Ministry said the Egyptian decision had come following contacts between Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and several Egyptian government officials.
Egyptian authorities closed the border crossing last Saturday after opening it for three days to allow Palestinian pilgrims to depart the embattled strip for Saudi Arabia.
"I was supposed to leave Gaza two months ago to the United Arab Emirates, but I couldn't because of the repeated border closures," Selim Abdeen, 55, told the AA. "I might lose my job because of this."
The Rafah crossing represents Gaza's only gateway to the outside world. All other points into or out of the coastal enclave remain tightly sealed by Israel.
Egyptian authorities have tightened control over the border with Gaza since the army's July 3 ouster of elected President Mohamed Morsi.
The Egyptian military has also launched a wide-ranging campaign to destroy the network of underground tunnels linking Gaza to Egypt, which in recent years have been used to smuggle badly-needed commodities into the coastal enclave.
By Mohamed Maged - Anadolu Agency
