Egypt opens Rafah crossing for Gaza pilgrims

By Nour Abu Aisha and Hani al-Shaer

GAZA CITY, Palestine

Egyptian authorities on Monday exceptionally opened the Rafah border crossing with the blockaded Gaza Strip to allow pilgrims to fly to Saudi Arabia.

“The terminal will remain open for four days to allow pilgrims to travel to Saudi Arabia,” Gaza’s crossing authority said in a statement.

Hisham Adwan, Palestinian director of the crossing, said around 800 pilgrims are set to cross the terminal on Monday.

The Hajj – a major tenet of Islam to cleanse sins and bring worshippers closer to God – will start later this month. More than two million pilgrims are expected to perform the ritual this year.

Blockaded by Israel -- by air, land and sea -- since 2007, the Gaza Strip has seven border crossings linking it to the outside world.

Six of these are controlled by Israel, while the seventh -- the Rafah crossing -- is controlled by Egypt, which keeps it tightly sealed for the most part since the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi in a 2013 military coup.

Israel sealed four of its commercial crossings with Gaza in June 2007 after Palestinian group Hamas wrested control of the strip from the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority.