Rafah Crossing opened to let body of Palestinian killed by Egyptian soldiers into Gaza

Egyptian authorities opened the tightly controlled Rafah Crossing to let the corpse of the Palestinian man killed by Egyptian soldiers into the Gaza Strip, Anadolu reported on Wednesday.

Sources from Gaza’s interior ministry told Anadolu that the Egyptian authorities opened the crossing and delivered the body of Ishaq Hassan. Hassan, who reportedly suffered from mental illness, was killed by Egyptian soldiers after swimming into Egyptian waters.

VIDEO: The shooting of 28 year old Ishaq Khalil Hassan

According to the source, an Egyptian ambulance entered towards the Palestine side and handed over the corpse to Hassan’s family.

Last week, Al Jazeera broadcast a video of the killing. Egypt said it carried out the killing as part of its role to protect national security. The Palestinian Authority informally accepted the reasoning, but Palestinian factions have severally criticised it.

Hassan’s family have said he was attempting to reach Egyptian hospitals in order to receive treatment for a disease that could not be treated in Gaza.

Read: Egyptian TV anchor hails soldier who executed mentally ill Palestinian man near Gaza

Images by MEMO photographer Mohammed Asad.