Egypt will reopen the Rafah crossing with the blockaded Gaza Strip on Monday, the Palestinian Interior Ministry said on Sunday.
“The terminal will be open in both directions for four days until Thursday,” the Hamas-run ministry said in a statement.
This is the third time for the Egyptian authorities to reopen the Rafah crossing since March.
Gaza unemployment rate reaches 70%
Unemployment rate in the besieged #Gaza Strip has hit 70% as a result of #Israel’s ongoing siege of the enclave & lockdowns which have resulted from coronavirus, the head of Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions, Sami Al-Ammasi, said. pic.twitter.com/U68Kbdz1ky
— CIR_Palestine (@CIR_Palestine) October 28, 2020
Earlier this month, reports suggested that the government in Gaza was in discussion with the Egyptian government in opening the Rafah crossing permanently.
Since the outbreak of the coronavirus in March, the Rafah crossing has been closed by the Egyptian authorities, in fears of the spread of the disease. Cairo was reported to have opened the crossing on a limited number of occasions for a few days, primarily for the repatriation of Palestinian citizens.
Between the siege, electricity outages and a lack of technology, online learning for students in Gaza has turned into a “nightmare.”https://t.co/fQRoUW6CQS
— Just Vision (@JustVisionMedia) October 25, 2020
After entering Gaza, travelers must quarantine for 21 days in a specified location which has been prepared by authorities.
Gaza, with a population of 2 million, has been under a hermetic Israeli siege since 2006, when the Palestinian group Hamas won the democratic legislative elections in occupied Palestine. Since then, Israel has carried out numerous bombing campaigns and several major wars, that resulted in the death of thousands of people.
(MEMO, PC, Social Media)