By Hani al-Shaar
GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - The Egyptian authorities will open the Rafah border crossing -- in both directions -- for five days starting Wednesday, the Gaza Strip’s Hamas-run Interior Ministry said Monday.
"We have been informed by the Egyptian side that they will open the crossing for five days from Wednesday to Monday, except on Friday," Gaza’s border crossing authority said in a statement.
Earlier this month, the Egyptian authorities opened the border crossing for four consecutive days, allowing some 3,000 Gazans -- mostly medical patients and students -- to enter Egyptian territory.
According to the border authority, the number of Gazans now waiting to cross stands at some 28,000, most of whom seek medical treatment abroad or who are studying at universities overseas.
The long periods of closure at the Rafah crossing -- Gaza's only point of access to the outside world not under Israeli control -- have brought the enclave’s roughly 1.9 million inhabitants to the verge of humanitarian catastrophe.
* Ali Abo Rezig contributed to this report from Ankara