Temporary Reopening of Rafah Crossing After Control Handed Over to Palestinian Authority

Following the transfer of responsibility for the Rafah crossing from Hamas to the Palestinian Authority, Egypt temporarily reopened its border with Gaza on Saturday. According to a report by AFP citing an unnamed Palestinian official, the Rafah crossing will remain open for three days starting from Saturday morning. During this short period, around 20,000 residents of Gaza have requested to enter Egypt. The Palestinian official noted that 'Egypt has opened this crossing for humanitarian reasons,' and all civilian and security personnel responsible for controlling the Palestinian side are employees of the reconciliation government led by Rami Hamdallah. Fatah and Hamas signed a national reconciliation agreement last month, mediated by Egypt in Cairo. The Palestinian national consensus allows the Palestinian Authority to take over governance in Gaza after 10 years of Hamas's control over the strip. The Egypt-Gaza border has been completely closed since August, two and a half months ago, and prior to that, most of this border had been closed for years. Hamas, the Islamist rulers of Gaza, last week transferred responsibility for several border crossings to the security forces of the Palestinian Authority based on the national reconciliation agreement. Hamas is expected to hand over internal power to the Palestinian Authority based in the West Bank by December 1. In the first step, Hamas relinquished control of the border 17 days ago. Based on this agreement, it is anticipated that the opening of the Rafah crossing will become more regularized. Majid Faraj, head of the Palestinian Authority's security services, met and discussed with Yahya Sinwar, a senior Hamas leader, in Gaza on Friday. All Palestinian factions are set to meet next week in Cairo to discuss how to advance the national reconciliation agreement. Israel and Egypt had kept Gaza under siege for years, citing the need to isolate Hamas.