RAFAH: The Rafah border crossing was reopened on Wednesday after disagreements between Egypt and Hamas were resolved, an Egyptian official said. The crossing is the only one into the Gaza Strip that bypasses Israel. An Egyptian security official said that agreement was reached between the two sides after an Egyptian decision to raise the number of Palestinians crossing the border from 400 to 500 a day — a 25 percent increase. In a statement, the Hamas manager of the border crossing, Ayub Abu Shaar, said the terminal was reopened "after an agreement with the Egyptian side that all the parties agreed to." "The crossing is operating normally today for both departures and arrivals," he added. Hamas government closed the border from Gaza side on Sunday demanding clarification from the Egypt side on the procedure. Egypt had closed its side of the border on Saturday for unannounced maintenance work. Palestinian officials on the Gaza side said then that they had not been informed in advance that the crossing would be shut, and that their phone calls to the Egyptian side went unanswered. A crowd of hundreds of Palestinians gathered on the Gaza Strip side, angered by the unannounced closure, and a day later Abu Shaar said the Palestinians would not resume operations at Rafah until clear procedures had been agreed with the Egyptian side. Egypt eased border access last month to much fanfare, extending opening hours at the frontier and scrapping visa requirements for many Palestinians. A senior Hamas official said last week that the Palestinians wanted Egypt to allow more travelers to cross each day, speed up operations at the border, decrease waiting times, and agree on regular operating hours. Eyewitnesses said that the flow of Palestinians on both sides of the border resumed normally on Wednesday. –Additional reporting by Agencies
