14 April 2020
Officials in Gaza said Egypt reopened Rafah Crossing point on its borders with southern Gaza Strip on Monday to allow the returning of stranded Palestinians.
Spokesman of the Hamas-run ministry of interior in Gaza Eyad al-Bozzom told reporters that Egypt reopened Rafah Crossing point for four days to enable hundreds of Palestinians stranded in Egypt to return to Gaza.
The crossing point had been shut down about a month ago as part the precautionary measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus to the coastal enclave.
“Around 300 passengers will be allowed to cross through Rafah border crossing point to the Gaza Strip every day from Monday to Thursday,” said al-Bozzom, adding that “all passengers will be taken to obligatory quarantine.”
In March, more than 2,000 Palestinians who had crossed from Egypt to the Gaza Strip through Rafah Crossing, were all held in quarantine centers, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health.
The ministry earlier said that most of those who came from abroad and were held in the quarantine centers across the Gaza Strip had returned homes.
The health ministry also said that 13 Gaza Strip’s citizens were infected with the virus, adding that nine had recovered.
On Saturday, the Hamas movement, which has been ruling the coastal enclave since 2007, announced that it finished the construction of 1,000 quarantine units in southern and northern Gaza Strip.
The movement said in a press statement that it handed over the 1,000 units to the ministry of health in the Gaza Strip which can be used to host hundreds of passengers returning to Gaza this week.