EGYPT allowed a delegation of nine opposition MPs, mostly from the banned Muslim Brotherhood, to cross into the Israeliblockaded Gaza Strip on Tuesday a day after they were left stuck there. "But the MPs were made to leave behind the cargo of reconstruction materials that they had hoped to take with them into the blockaded Palestinian territory," an official at the Rafah border crossing said. Amid the international outcry over an Israeli commando operation against a Gaza-bound aid flotilla which killed nine Turkish activists in international waters last week, President Hosni Mubarak ordered the opening of the Rafah border crossing ��" Gaza's only gateway that bypasses Israel. The surprise move has allowed some additional aid into Gaza but only a restricted category of Palestinians such as those seeking treatment or study abroad are permitted to cross and on Monday authorities denied the MPs entry. Seven of them are members of the banned but tolerated Muslim Brotherhood ��" Egypt's largest opposition group. The other two are members of the leftist Nasserit party. The Egyptian opposition has long campaigned against the Government's refusal to fully open the Gaza border, even at the height of the deadly offensive which Israel launched against the territory in December 2008. Meanwhile, more than 5,000 Palestinians have crossed the border between Gaza and Egypt since President Hosni Mubarak ordered it opened eight days ago, border security sources said on Tuesday. "People with documents granting them entry into Egypt or other Arab countries have been allowed to leave the coastal enclave, while Palestinian patients who had received medical treatment in Egypt were allowed to return to Gaza," the official said. He added that tonnes of medical supplies, food and other aid items had also been driven into Gaza. Shipments of construction and building materials that accompanied the nine parliamentarians were stopped by security forces in the town of Al-Arish, about 50 kilometres away from the Rafah crossing. Egypt has occasionally opened its border with the enclave for three or four-day periods. This is the first time that the border has been opened for an indefinite period of time.
