Gaza-Egypt Border: Israeli Government Should Play Wimbledon?

Gaza-Egypt border reopens after two days


Palestinian border guards close the gate of the Rafah border crossing in the southern in the Gaza Strip. The Gaza Strip border with Egypt was reopened after a two-day closure owing to an Israeli security alert.(AFP/Said Khatib)

Jun 22, 2006

GAZA CITY (AFP) - The Gaza Strip border with Egypt was reopened after a two-day closure owing to an Israeli security alert, officials said.

EU monitors who oversee the Rafah terminal -- Gaza's sole gateway to the world bypassing Israel -- had been unable to get to work for two days and a liaison office closed because of an ongoing alert at a separate crossing.

The monitors were finally able to travel to their jobs when the Israeli military opened the Kerem Shalom crossing to the EU representatives, and allowed an adjacent liaison office, which oversees Rafah, to reopen.

"The EU observers came and we have reopened," said Samir Abu Nahl, a security official at the Rafah terminal.

"The crossing is now operating again," confirmed EU monitors spokesman Nigel Milverton after the team of observers regained their posts.

An Israeli military spokesman confirmed that Kerem Shalom had been opened to the EU monitors.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas had petitioned Egyptian, EU, Jordanian and US officials in a bid to secure Rafah's reopening, a spokesman said.

The European Union has deployed observers at Rafah, at the request of the Palestinian Authority and Israel, to monitor agreements on border traffic.

Update:

Gaza-Egypt border closes again

Gaza's gateway to world re-opens