RAFAH, Gaza Strip , 24 September 2005 — Hundreds of people crossed between the Gaza Strip and Egypt yesterday after Palestinian and Egyptian officials opened the Rafah border terminal closed by Israel more than two weeks ago. Palestinian officials have said that the terminal, which closed on Sept. 7, five days before Israel left the Gaza Strip after a 38-year occupation, would temporarily reopen till today only.
Israel and the Palestinians disagree over the long-term fate of Rafah, with Israeli officials determined to continue to inspect civilians and merchandise entering Gaza, fearing arms smuggling and militant infiltrations. Busloads of people were seen crossing the border both ways, with students, the sick and infirm authorized to cross the terminal first.
Among those coming back were a number of Palestinians who crossed into Egypt illegally just after Israeli soldiers left the Gaza Strip on Sept. 12. The smooth operation was in stark contrast to scenes of chaos on the porous border in the first few days after Israel left the Gaza Strip when thousands of people crossed to and from Egypt, exacerbating fears about rampant insecurity.But yesterday’s operation was smooth, with Palestinian police and passport controllers out in force and some Egyptian officials on the Palestinian side of the terminal — the only official access point between Gaza and Egypt.
“Our plan was to process 1,200 people every hour, but because this is the first time and just the beginning so far we have processed 120 an hour,” Palestinian Telecommunications Minister Sabri Saydam told AFP. He said that a list of passengers using the terminal for the next two days would be submitted to Israel.
Muawiya Hassanein, head of Emergency Services in Gaza at the Health Ministry said that 50 Palestinians, most of them cancer patients, are on track to leave to Egypt during the 48-hour opening of the crossing. “This is the most beautiful day of my life, entering the Rafah crossing under the Palestinian flag,” said 16-year-old Samar Salem, heading toward the Egyptian border on her way back to Saudi Arabia. The young Palestinian expatriate had come to visit relatives in Rafah three weeks ago and was blocked in Gaza when the terminal was closed.
Palestinian national security adviser Jibril Rajoub said Tuesday that the crossing would open for students and Palestinians to leave or return to Gaza until a wrangle over the crossing was sorted out.
All travelers needed a valid Palestinian identity card or foreign passport to prevent a repeat of a chaotic deluge of Gazans into Egypt that went on for days after Israel’s Sept. 12 withdrawal from Gaza following 38 years of occupation.
