OPT: Gaza-Egypt crossing to open three days a month
IRIN, the humanitarian news and analysis service of the UN Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=85098

GAZA CITY, 2 July 2009 (IRIN) - Rafah crossing on the Gaza-Egypt border
opened briefly on 25, 26 and 27 June allowing Gaza patients in need of
emergency care, students, and foreign visa holders to exit.

Rafah has been almost completely closed since Hamas took over in Gaza in
June 2007, according to Hamada Al-Bayari from the UN Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Gaza.

During the three-day opening, 1,796 passengers were allowed through and 693
turned back, according to Ghazi Hamad, the Gaza government's head of borders
and crossings.

Hamad said he was told by the Egyptians that from now on Rafah would open
three days a month. "I, of course, asked for more, especially for medical
patients," he said.

Those leaving this time included 540 patients accompanied by 424 family
members, 81 students, 122 business people, 1,083 people visiting family and
friends, four tourists, four commercial traders, and 217 people with
residency abroad.

Just over 3,000 Palestinian passport holders were allowed to cross into Gaza
from Egypt, Hamad said.

Five truck-loads of medical aid (three from the United Arab Emirates and two
from Qatar) were allowed into Gaza, said Hamad, adding that some other
trucks were turned away.

Each month 800-1,000 people need to travel out of Gaza for medical care, the
World Health Organization's (WHO's) health officer in Gaza, Mahmoud Daher,
told IRIN earlier.

Who's in control?

Gaza prime minister Ismail Haniyeh visited the crossing during the opening,
announcing his administration's willingness to operate it according to
procedures agreed with the Egyptian authorities, the European Union (EU),
and Mahmoud Abbas's presidential guard under the Palestinian Authority (PA)
in the West Bank.

Hamad said the Hamas administration was adhering to the 2005 Agreement on
Movement and Access in the operation of the Rafah crossing.

"We would welcome the return of the European presence on the border," said
Hamad, "and would allow Israeli surveillance [of the crossing]."

At least six parties have an interest in the operation of Rafah - the Hamas
government, the PA in the West Bank, Egypt, Israel, the EU and the USA.

Diplomats and UN agencies in Gaza are unsure who really controls Rafah.
Israel says it no longer has a presence there or any control. Hamas
officials say Egypt now has full control.

Mohammed Al-Aish, aged 24, a Gaza health ministry employee, returned to Gaza
after visiting his father in Abu Dhabi.

"The conditions were harsh, the Egyptian authorities restricted our movement
in Cairo airport and at the [Rafah] crossing," said Al-Aish, adding that
passengers with referrals from the PA in the West Bank were allowed to move
freely in Egypt.

"We had no access to food or water during the day-and-a-half-long journey,"
he said.

Some analysts say the PA in Ramallah, Israel and Egypt would all like to
prevent Hamas from gaining control over Rafah.

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