Sisi urges Palestinian Authority control over Gaza Strip, crossings

Moussa Abu Marzouk said that the PA refused a proposal for its officials to oversee the Rafah Border Crossing between Egypt and Gaza and deploy Mahmoud Abbas’ presidential guard at the site alongside Hamas civilian workers.

While in Gaza to make the announcement, Yilmaz visited the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital, which was built by the Turkish government more than two years ago at a total cost of $34 million.

In 1979, Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty that returned the Sinai, which borders the Gaza Strip, to Egyptian control.

“Akram Atallah, a Gaza-based political analyst told Xinhua that Rafah crossing turned the populations in Gaza into prisoners who are waiting indefinitely for their release”, adding that “Hamas, who controls the crossing doesn’t care about their situation”.

Palestinians wait near their luggage to cross the border to the…

Hundreds of Palestinians who must travel overseas via Egypt, gathered Thursday at the crossing awaiting its opening.

The Hamas-run Interior Ministry says this year, the Rafah crossing worked in two directions for intermittent 19 days. Few Gazans are permitted to travel through the Israeli border to the north, though Israeli crossings are used daily to transfer cargo into Gaza.

The last time the border was opened was in mid October, when authorities partially opened the crossing to allow Palestinian Muslim pilgrims to return to their homes from Saudi Arabia.

The Rafah crossing has been closed-off since October 24 2014, after a military attack in Northern Sinai killed over 30 military conscripts.

Hamas has in the past accused Fayyad of besieging the Gaza Strip since the party ruled the costal enclave after rounds of fighting with PNA loyalists.