Egypt to open border crossing at Rafah

From Mohamed Fadel Fahmy, For CNN

Cairo (CNN) — Egypt will permanently open its Rafah border crossing into Gaza beginning Saturday, an Egyptian official reported Wednesday. The move provides Gazans with an open door to the outside world for the first time in four years.

“The Egyptian government decided to open the Rafah border to (give) relief (to) the people of Gaza permanently,” said Ambassador Menha Bakhoum, head of media and public diplomacy for the Egyptian Foreign Ministry. The crossing officially will remain open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. except on Friday and public holidays.

All the country’s security apparatus will be involved in the security of the border, he said.

Palestinians in Gaza have had no open border since 2007, when Egypt and Israel closed their crossings after the militant group Hamas won control of the narrow strip of land.

There was no immediate reaction from Israeli government officials. But on Tuesday, prior to the announcement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized Hamas in an interview with Fox News.

“They are putting into Gaza about 10,000 rockets, which they fire on us,” he said. “They’ve already fired 6,000 rockets on us. They are amassing more. So, they are not a partner for peace.”

The opening marks a change for Egypt’s government, which had hewed closely to Israeli interests under President Hosni Mubarak, who was deposed in February.