GAZA CITY - More than 10,000 Palestinians have crossed into Egypt via the Rafah border since it was opened June 1 after Israel's attack on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, the Palestinian movement Hamas said on Saturday. The Hamas-run corporation for crossings and borders said that 10,531 people crossed from Gaza into Egypt, while another 10,172 arrived from Egypt and crossed to the enclave. "Those who crossed from Gaza to Egypt are patients who needed medical treatment in Egypt, students, people travelling to other countries and holders of other nationalities," a Hamas statement said Saturday. The Rafah crossing was closed after Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas security forces and the European Union inspectors were ruling the crossing. Occasionally, Egypt has opened the Rafah border for three or four- day periods. This is the first time that the border has been opened indefinitely.
