Egypt reopens Rafah border with Gaza

RAFAH: Egypt on Saturday reopened its Rafah border crossing with Gaza, allowing people to cross freely for the first time in four years, in a move hailed by Hamas but criticised by Israel.

Among the first to cross were two ambulances ferrying patients from the hitherto-blockaded Gaza Strip for treatment in Egypt, as well as a minibus carrying a dozen visitors.

A total of around 200 Gazans had crossed by early afternoon.

"I've been waiting for this for years," said 25-year-old Samah al-Rawagh, one of the first 200 to leave the densely populated Palestinian enclave.

"In the past, I tried twice to cross but was turned back both times," he said, adding that his plan was to get to Turkey.

The crossing will be open to people for eight hours a day from 9:00 am, apart from holidays and Fridays, giving Gazans a gateway to the world as Rafah is the only crossing which does not pass through Israel.

Under the long-awaited change, which excludes the flow of goods, people under the age of 18 or older than 40 require only a visa to pass, but men between 18 and 40 still need security clearance, officials said.

Commercial traffic will continue to have to pass through border points with Israel to enter the impoverished territory.

According to an official in charge of administrative procedures on the Palestinian side of the terminal, "the process is going without a hitch, and we are providing the facilities for travellers to pass quickly and comfortably."

On the Egyptian side, an official said: "We are going to do everything possible to ease the passage of our Palestinian brothers, and we hope procedures will be simplified further in due course."

Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil al-Arabi announced in April that the crossing would reopen permanently, stressing this would help ease the blockade imposed by Israel.

The border has remained largely shut since June 2006 when Israel imposed a tight blockade on Gaza after Palestinian snatched Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who is still being held.

The blockade was tightened a year later when the Hamas seized control of the territory, ousting forces loyal to the Western-backed Palestinian Authority.

The United Nations has called the blockade illegal and repeatedly demanded it be lifted.

The decision to permanently reopen the Rafah crossing came more than three months after former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak resigned under pressure following 18 days of massive street protests against his rule.

It was hailed by Hamas and the European Union, but Israel has greeted the news with trepidation.(AFP)