Egypt to reopen Gaza crossing, Hamas officials say

Hamas officials say they have received assurances from Egypt that the Rafah crossing will be reopened and that Qatar will be allowed to resume sending money to Gaza.

MENA

1 min read

The New Arab & agencies

11 January, 2019

The Rafah crossing was closed on Tuesday by Egyptian authorities [AFP]

The Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza will reopen early next week, Hamas officials said on Thursday.

The announcement follows the Palestinian Authority's withdrawal last week from the key border, which it had been operating as part of a 2017 reconciliation agreement with Hamas.

Egypt closed the Rafah border on Tuesday, just hours after the crossing was reclaimed by the Hamas-run government.

Officials from the Gaza-based Islamist group also said that Qatar will be allowed to resume sending money to Gaza, provided there are no further rocket attacks on Israel.

They received the assurances from an Egyptian delegation visiting Gaza.

The delegation said Israel had decided to allow Qatar to resume the transfer of funds, so long as the border between Gaza and Israel remained quiet.

The Egyptian delegation arrived in Gaza after holding meetings with Israeli officials.

The Israelis reportedly told Egypt they had no interest in any confrontation with Gaza, but stressed no money could be transferred to Gaza if any rockets attacks took place.