Egypt announced that it will open the Rafah border crossing on Wednesday in one direction, allowing Palestinians into the Gaza Strip. State-run MENA reported the crossing will be opened to admit "Palestinians who are stuck, into the Gaza Strip." The border will be opened Wednesday afternoon for four hours, and for nine hours on Thursday. The Rafah border crossing is the main entry and exit point to the strip and connects the strip to Egypt, and from there, to the outside world. The border crossing has been shut indefinitely by Egyptian authorities in October after deadly attacks in North Sinai left 30 Egyptian security personnel dead. Gaza is densely populated, hosting more than 1.8 million people in the 40km long strip. There are thousands inside who need to leave the strip, including patients who may not have access to the healthcare they need inside Gaza, since Gazan hospitals lack equipment and resources. People with conditions like cancer and heart disease commonly seek healthcare in Egypt. Gaza's health ministry spokesman Ashraf Al-Qedra has issued repeated statements throughout the past few weeks on how much the health sector in the strip is struggling. In a statement on Monday, he said "thousands of patients are in extremely concerning health conditions", as a result of the closure of the Rafah border crossing. "Containing their condition is related to an urgent Egyptian decision to open" the border crossing, he added. He said opening the crossing is necessary to allow people in need of medical transfers outside, to allow patients stuck outside back into the strip, to admit medical delegations who will perform specialised surgical operations and to admit medicine and relief convoys. In addition to patients, closing the strip primarily affects students who need to access their colleges abroad, and people who live and work outside the strip.
