Dahlan says Rafah crossing to open soon

Dismissed Fatah politician Mohammed Dahlan has announced that Egypt will soon open its Rafah border crossing as the first step in a series of actions to ease pressure on the Gaza Strip.

Dahlan wrote a post on his Facebook page on Monday saying: “Notwithstanding the black terrorism and its crimes, Egypt will open the Rafah border crossing in the next few days.”

“After the contacts that I have made this morning with our brothers in Egypt, I can confirm that the resumption of work at the crossing is postponed only for an emergency matter that resulted from the abduction of [Egyptian] police officer Ayman Al-Dessouki in Sinai at the hands of the evil forces of terrorism and takfir,” said the former leader of Fatah in Gaza.

“The opening of the Rafah crossing for enabling students, patients, Palestinians living abroad and foreign passports holders is only a first step in a series of measures that the Egyptian leadership approved during my latest visit to Egypt,” he added

Dahlan noted that these measures would ease the burden on the people of the Gaza Strip, revealing that a visit will be arranged for a delegation of businessmen to Gaza in order to discuss the ways of facilitating trade and the flow of rations and aid to the besieged strip.

Dahlan also spoke about the need to dismiss political differences in order to lift the sanctions on the people of Gaza, who have been living under siege for many years and are now paying a heavy price for “their patriotism, courage and steadfastness”.

The chief of Gaza’s border crossings, Maher Abu Sabha, said on Monday that they had been told by the Egyptians they would not be able to open the Rafah crossing on Tuesday because of the kidnapping of an Egyptian officer in Sinai on Sunday.

This came after the Egyptian authorities had earlier informed the Palestinian side that Egypt planned to open the crossing from Tuesday through Thursday.