Zahar says Egypt must open Rafah

The Rafah border crossing is scheduled to be opened for humanitarian departures from the Gaza Strip starting from next week for three days, Saturday, Monday and Thursday, Palestinian Ambassador in Cairo Barakat al-Farra said Thursday. Farra said the crossing would remain open in the opposite direction throughout next week for all those who wish to return to Gaza. It was however not clear what the Egyptian officials actually mean by "humanitarian cases". Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar criticised on Thursday Cairo's decision to limit the Rafah border crossing's opening in both directions to only three days a week. Zahar cited the Taba border crossing between Taba, Egypt, and Eilat, Israel, as example saying that the corssing must be completely reopened. He also criticised "the crossing of 10,000 Zionists to Sinai, and the fact that the Egyptians had to extend [work] in the Taba border crossing," which links Egypt to Israel. He warned against being drawn into "Israel's attempts to drive a wedge between Gaza and Egypt". The crossing continued to operate one-way Thursday for the second day in a row, allowing Palestinians and pilgrims stranded abroad back into the Gaza Strip. On Wednesday, 1,104 people used the crossing;129 of those were allowed to cross into Egypt, including 15 members of a Miles of Smiles convoy, which provides free dental care to children, and the Malaysian delegation of solidarity, as well as some humanitarian cases. Egyptian authorities closed the Rafah crossing for five days starting Friday for Eid al-Fitr, before re-opening it on Monday. The border crossing is typically closed on Fridays and holidays. The passage was shut for nine days following a deadly attack on a Sinai military checkpoint that killed 16 security officers earlier this month. Zahar said via his official Facebook page: "Investigations proved that Gaza has nothing to do with the armed attack on Sinai earlier this month." "We hope that the Egyptian administration stands with the Palestinian people and fully opens the Rafah crossing for seven days a week," he added.