Egypt has announced the country’s highest state of alert, following the launch of a major counter-terrorism operation. Earlier, the army said it was beginning operations in the Sinai peninsula, Nile Delta and Western Desert against Islamist militants. It has since closed the Rafah Crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip. “All security measures are beefed … Read more
Hamas leader Ismail Haniya said Wednesday recent talks in Egypt could lead to improving the humanitarian suffering in the impoverished Gaza Strip. The head of the Palestinian Islamist movement said it found Egyptian officials “ready to work to address the crises in Gaza” during a recent trip in which Hamas leaders, led by its Gaza … Read more
Egypt began on Wednesday to deliver a million litres of fuel to Gaza, a Palestinian official said, in an attempt to ease the Palestinian enclave’s desperate electricity crisis. The fuel, trucked in through the Rafah border between Egypt and Gaza, will be routed to the territory’s only power station — closed for several months due … Read more
Fifty years after Israel occupied the Palestinian territories, its policies in the West Bank and Gaza are at the root of Palestinian hardship, the United Nations said Wednesday. “Occupation policies and practices remain the key cause of humanitarian needs in the occupied Palestinian territories,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said … Read more
Egypt has temporarily reopened the Rafah border crossing, in one direction, to allow hundreds of stranded Palestinians to return to the Gaza Strip, according to officials. The Rafah border, the only crossing from Gaza bypassing Israel, opened for three days starting on Saturday, allowing people in but not out. “Egyptian authorities reopened the Rafah crossing … Read more
Egypt reopened the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip for three days starting on Saturday to allow hundreds of stranded Palestinians to return home, officials said. The move, described by Palestinian border officials as a “humanitarian” gesture, will allow Palestinians stranded in Egypt and elsewhere, including students and sick people, to return to Gaza. … Read more