Egyptian authorities allowed the entry of a bus from Gaza on Saturday, the Hamas government said, two days after Cairo had indefinitely closed its border crossing with the Palestinian enclave.
A statement from Islamist Hamas’ interior ministry said “the Egyptian side reopened the Rafah crossing to allow through international travellers” bearing foreign passports and “humanitarian cases” — people in need of treatment in Egyptian hospitals with a permit from the Palestinian Authority.
According to the statement, the Palestinian side was informed Cairo had at this stage only allowed through one bus, containing some 50 passengers, because of “technical problems” with the Egyptian computer systems at the terminal.
There was no indication if further cross-border movement would be allowed.
Egyptian authorities closed the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip “indefinitely” on Thursday for security reasons.
Hundreds of Palestinian travellers were left stranded on both sides of the crossing, the only gateway into the Hamas-ruled Palestinian territory that bypasses Israel.
The measure followed widespread unrest in Egypt after a Wednesday bloody crackdown by security forces on loyalists of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.
Hamas, the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, strongly denounced Wednesday’s crackdown by security forces on protest camps set up in support of Morsi, who also hails from the Brotherhood.
Egypt allows Gaza bus through closed Rafah crossing
