Egypt: Rafah will remain open because of 'humanitarian crisis'

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Egypt does not intend to shut off the wide-open Rafah border with the Gaza Strip, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry announced early Thursday. An Egyptian spokesman told CNN that the border will remain open "as long as there continues to be a humanitarian crisis in the Strip." Hamas leaders on Wednesday called for an "urgent and speedy" meeting with representatives of Egypt and the Palestinian Authority to work out new, shared arrangements to control the border crossing in Rafah. The call came shortly after Palestinian gunmen blew up large parts of the wall separating the Gaza Strip from Sinai, enabling tens of thousands of Palestinians to cross freely into Egyptian territory.