Gaza’s Rafah Gate To Reopen

By Staff, Agencies

The Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip is expected to reopen on Thursday, to allow people to cross, along with the return of a European Union monitoring mission to the crossing, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing sources.

The two sources did not specify what restrictions might be imposed on those wanting to travel, and according to Reuters, the "Israeli" military and the "Israeli" so-called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office did not respond to a request for comment.

Earlier on Wednesday, the "Israeli" public broadcaster said the political leadership in "Israel" decided to move forward with opening the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt and to allow humanitarian aid into the sector after the remains of four "Israeli" captives were returned from Gaza.

This follows reports by "Israeli" Channel 13 on October 14 stating that "Israel" had decided to take what it described as "punitive measures" against Hamas over claims of delayed handovers of the bodies of “Israeli” captives.

According to the report, the occupation authorities decided not to reopen the Rafah crossing on October 15 and to significantly reduce humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip in response to Hamas's failure to deliver the remaining bodies.

Channel 13 also reported that Netanyahu has adopted the recommendations of the security agencies, which called for a reduction in aid and for the Rafah crossing to remain closed.