CAIRO: The Rafah border crossing was opened Sunday to allow Palestinian students, patients and residents of other countries to cross through via Egypt, according to sources in the area. About 1,000 people were expected to pass through on Sunday, half students and the other half third-country residents, but the slow pace of the entry procedures at the gate meant that only 150 had passed through at press time. The crossing is due to be open until Tuesday, according to the Hamas official responsible for the crossing from the Gaza side, Adel Zoroub. However sources in the area told Daily News Egypt that the crossing might be open only until Monday. Zoroub stated that there were about 800 patients due to cross into Egypt on Monday for treatment, although 200 of them had still not been issued passports by the Palestinian Authority (PA). Despite the temporary reopening of the Rafah crossing, 16 French medical services staff who have been attempting to enter Gaza for three weeks were still not permitted entry into the strip. On Sunday, a fact-finding delegation from the Arab League was at the crossing accompanied by a European official. A delegation from the European parliament is due to arrive in Gaza today also on a fact-finding mission. Egypt had closed the crossing earlier this month after having kept it open for humanitarian purposes during Israel's 22-day offensive on the Gaza strip Dec. 27. During the attacks, Palestinian patients were allowed into Egypt and aid was sent to Gaza through Rafah. The sudden recent opening of the crossing may be related to Egypt's intention to begin unity talks for Palestinian factions on Wednesday. The talks had been scheduled to begin Sunday but were postponed due to the setbacks in the truce talks between Israel and Hamas. Fatah spokesman Fahmi Az-Za'arir said, "The movement welcomed this development and will attend the meetings of the dialogue out of the belief that the huge challenges faced by the Palestinians need unity and the empowerment of the internal front, recalling that Fatah had called for not linking the truce with dialogue so that Israel would not control the Palestinian dialogue indirectly. Hamas official Ayman Taha also welcomed the talks saying, "We are interested in bringing success to the dialogue . The meetings that were held with Fatah leaders had paved the way, creating a positive atmosphere for its success, but pointed out that the PA needed to release Hamas prisoners and resume paying the salaries of Gaza's civil servants to foster this positive atmosphere.
