Egypt: Egypt briefly opens Gaza crossing

(SomaliNet) A border official said Egypt opened its border with the Gaza Strip on Tuesday to allow students and people needing medical attention to leave the besieged Palestinian territory.

Adel Zurob, a Palestinian official at the crossing said about 4 600 people should be allowed to cross into Egypt through the Rafah border crossing during three days.

Zurob told AFP that, six buses with 300 people aboard as well as 13 ambulances carrying patients crossed into Egypt on Tuesday.

Since June 2006 when Palestinian militants captured an Israeli soldier, the crossing, the only one in Gaza that bypasses Israel, has been generally closed.

Meanwhile, Israel has imposed a blockade on the narrow coastal territory following the June 2007 takeover by the Islamist Hamas movement, which ousted forces loyal to secular Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas from Gaza. - AFP