The Gaza-based Palestinian Interior Ministry urged on Sunday evening the Egyptian authorities to unblock the Rafah border crossing so as to allow 20000 humanitarian cases a safe access out of the besieged enclave.
The Interior Ministry spokesman Iyad al-Bazem said over 20000 Palestinians mostly humanitarian cases students and holders of foreign passports have been trapped at the Palestinian side of the Rafah border-crossing as the Egyptian authorities have kept the passageway closed for 45 days running.
Al-Bazem urged Egypt to open the border crossing at the soonest time possible so as to relieve the weight of the crisis wrought by the decade-long Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip.
Access out of Rafah crossing has been blocked by the Egyptian authorities on a quasi-permanent basis since July 2013. Since the start of 2017 the passageway has been kept closed for 104 days and exceptionally opened for 11 days only.
