Israel refused to allow Abbas to enter Gaza via Rafah

Israel has refused to allow Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to enter the Gaza Strip through the Rafah Border Crossing, even though the Egyptian government has agreed to the visit, the Israeli national broadcaster Kan reported yesterday.

An unnamed Arab diplomat was quoted by Kan as saying that the PA asked Israel and Egypt to help facilitate Abbas’s promised visit to Gaza. The diplomat explained that Egypt is interested in strengthening Abbas’s presence in Gaza and the PA’s vision for the enclave when the war ends, and that is why it agreed to an “exceptional” opening of the crossing, which is controlled by Israeli occupation forces on the Palestinian side.

A senior Palestinian official told the broadcaster that the PA sent an official request to Israel in August to allow Abbas to visit the Gaza Strip through the Beit Hanoun checkpoint or the Kerem Shalom crossing to “embarrass” the occupation state. If Abbas goes to Gaza, it was believed, it would open the way for the return of a PA government in the enclave.

The Palestine Liberation Organisation also informed Israel and the United States last month of the need to secure the way for a visit by Abbas to the Gaza Strip. The PLO letter was copied to all countries around the world.

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