Egypt opens Rafah crossing with Gaza for 2nd day

By Mohamed Abu Don

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - Egyptian authorities on Wednesday opened the Rafah border crossing with the blockaded Gaza Strip for the second day in a row in both directions.

"The crossing continues on Wednesday as the Crossings Authority crews have prepared the buses awaiting their departure from the Egyptian side," the Palestinian Interior Ministry said in a statement.

Since reopening on Tuesday, 913 passengers left the Gaza Strip, while 349 citizens returned, according to the statement.

The ministry stressed that its crews had been working since last Monday to conduct tests to identify cases of the novel coronavirus on all travelers scheduled to leave through the crossing over the three days.

Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in March, Egyptian authorities agreed with Hamas to close the terminal and open it occasionally for humanitarian reasons.

*Bassel Barakat contributed to this report from Ankara