Gazans travel through Rafah during rare opening of the crossing

Palestinians can be seen waiting to cross the Rafah border on 19 November 2017 [Mohammed Asad/Middle East Monitor]

Egyptian authorities yesterday left the Rafah crossing for the second consecutive day allowing travellers to pass through in both directions.

A number of buses were parked at the Abu Yusuf Al Najjar Hall in Khan Yunis. They headed to the Palestinian hall at the crossing ready to enter Egypt.

Some 550 people travelled through the crossing on Saturday, including 102 children and a number of individuals who were due to receive medical treatment in Egypt or abroad. Some 600 Palestinians returned to Gaza on the day after being trapped in Egypt due to the closure of the border.

Egyptian authorities had announced that the Rafah crossing would be opened for three days, from Saturday to Monday.

Read: Out-dated crossing agreements

Thousands of Gazans have been trapped in the besieged Strip as a result of the 11-year long Israeli siege which has been reinforced by Egypt through the closure of the Rafah crossing.

It had been hoped that the crossing would be reopened as part of the reconciliation agreement signed between Fatah and Hamas in mid-October which saw Palestinian Authority officials took over control of the border crossings and ministries.

Palestinians can be seen waiting to cross the Rafah border on 19 November 2017 [Mohammed Asad/Middle East Monitor]

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