Egypt’s Rafah Crossing open until October 10 for Palestinian pilgrims

Egyptian authorities reopened the Rafah Crossing on Wednesday for Palestinian pilgrims who are returning home.

Security sources said the border crossing would be open from Wednesday, October 7 at 10:00 am until October 10 in one direction, into the Gaza Strip.

About 760 Palestinian pilgrims have arrived at Cairo Airport on three EgyptAir flights, the source mentioned. They will then board tourist buses headed to the Rafah Crossing.

Last week, 480 Palestinian pilgrims crossed into Gaza through the Rafah Crossing.

According to the source, nearly 2,500 pilgrims are expected to cross the terminal during the two-day period.

More than 6,000 Palestinians performed the annual Hajj pilgrimage this year, half of them from the Gaza Strip.

Last week, Egyptian authorities opened the Rafah border crossing to allow 500 Palestinian pilgrims to cross into Gaza.

Since the 2013 military coup against Mohamed Morsi, Egypt’s first freely elected president, Egypt has kept the Rafah crossing – Gaza’s only access to the outside world not under Israeli control – tightly sealed.

Egypt has justified the closure by pointing to frequent militant attacks on security personnel in the Sinai Peninsula, which shares borders with both the Gaza Strip and Israel.

The ongoing closure of the Rafah crossing has made life even more difficult for the strip’s roughly 1.9 million inhabitants, who, since 2007, have groaned under a crippling Israeli blockade.