Egypt closes Rafah land crossing with Gaza

GAZA, Aug. 23 (YPA) – The Interior Ministry in the Gaza Strip said on Sunday evening that Egyptian authorities had informed them of the closure of the Rafah land border crossing in the southern Gaza Strip in both directions, on Monday.

The closure of the crossing is the first of its kind in months on non-public holidays.

“We have been told by the Egyptian authorities about the closure of the Rafah land crossing on Monday in both directions,” Ministry’s spokesman Iyad al-Bazam also said in a statement.

Al-Bazam did not give any further details on the reasons for the Egyptian move, and whether the closure was for one day or more.

Cairo has not made any  make any announcement as of 19:15 GMT.

However, the official Egyptian News Agency (AA) reported earlier Sunday that “Cairo resumed today the opening and operation of the Rafah land crossing (exceptionally) from both sides after the weekend.

E.M