The border crossing between Egypt and Gaza at Rafah reopened Wednesday morning after security officials ended their strike protesting the abduction of seven security conscripts last week. The border crossing had been closed since last Friday, causing tensions with Hamas who called for a quick resolution to the crisis in a statement on Monday. When news reached the border town of Rafah that the hostages had been released early on Wednesday, the security forces immediately ended their strike and reopened the border crossing, according to an unnamed security source in the North Sinai Security Directorate. All regular border activities have been resumed and security forces are working to ensure that traffic begins to flow once again between Egypt and Gaza, the source said. The Security Directorate is also conducting investigations into a car that exploded in Rafah Tuesday night. According to the security source, the car was carrying several explosives, one of which detonated for unknown reasons, killing the driver but not causing any further casualties. The driver, whose body was mutilated in the explosion, has not yet been identified, but the source has confirmed that he was not a member of the army or the police.
