Egypt has announced that it plans to reopen the Gaza border crossing at Rafah for two days beginning Tuesday, according to the country’s official news agency MENA. The Rafah Border Crossing will be open 1-2 July in order to allow Palestinian pa tients and those with residence visas to cross into Egypt, Palestinian Ambassador to Egypt, Nabil Amr, was quoted by MENA as saying. This will be the first opening of the border since 18 June, one day before the c easefire agreed to by Israel and Hamas went into effect. Egypt allowed Palestinians stranded in the North African country the opportunity to return to Gaza. Gaza has been nearly entirely cut off from the outside world since Hamas took control of the small Mediterranean strip of land in June 2007 after forcing out Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ forces and the European Union monitors. The border technically cannot be opened without the presence of the EU monitors and the Palestinian Presidential Guard. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has stated in the past that he will not allow Gazans to be entirely cut off from the outside world.
