Egypt-Gaza border reopened
2004-09-27 22:17
Rafah - Israel reopened the Rafah border crossing between the Gza Strip and Egypt on Monday after closing it last week ahead of Judaism's most solemn day, Yom Kippur, an Egyptian frontier guard said.
The guard said 700 Palestinians wanting to return to the Gaza Strip had been held on the Egyptian side of the frontier at Rafah.
Under the Palestinian autonomy accords signed in 1993, Israel maintains control of the Rafah crossing on the Palestinian side.
Israeli authorities, citing security reasons, closed the Rafah crossing on July 18, leaving thousands of Palestinians returning home for holidays stranded on the Egyptian side.
Israel reopened the border on August 6 following an international outcry prompted by the plight of the Palestinians, hundreds of whom had camped for weeks at the border under dire conditions.
- SAPA