GAZA CITY: Egypt reopened its border with the Gaza Strip Monday for the first time in months to allow Muslims from the blockaded Palestinian enclave to travel to Makkah for the Hajj pilgrimage, authorities said.
“The crossing was reopened this morning for four days in one direction for 2,500 pilgrims,” Hisham Adwan, director of information at the crossings authority of the Hamas-run Interior Ministry, said.
“About 800 pilgrims will leave the strip today,” he added, saying they had all already received Saudi visas.
The Rafah crossing with Egypt has been largely closed in recent years apart from occasional openings.
Israel has also maintained a crippling blockade on Gaza for a decade that it says is necessary to stop militant movement Hamas, which rules the strip, from obtaining weapons or materials that could be used to make them.
Egypt is the only other country with which the strip has a land border. Egyptian authorities accuse Hamas of supporting extremist factions in the country.
But Hamas has moved closer to the Egyptian government in recent months and officials privately hope the Rafah crossing will be at least partially reopened from next month.
One pilgrim who was waiting to cross the border told AFP he had been trying to travel to Makkah since 2014.
Egypt opens Gaza crossing for Hajj pilgrims
Egypt opens Gaza crossing for Hajj pilgrims
Israeli court postpones trial of Adnan Ghaith until Jan. 20
- Palestinian Authority’s governor of Jerusalem charged with violating military orders
LONDON: An Israeli court on Sunday postponed the trial of the Palestinian Authority’s governor of Jerusalem until Jan. 20.
Adnan Ghaith, who lives in the Silwan neighborhood of the city, is charged with violating Israeli military orders issued against him since he was appointed to the position in 2018.
Israeli authorities have imposed several military restrictions on Ghaith, including preventing his entry into the occupied West Bank and limiting his movement within Silwan.
He is also banned from communicating with 51 national and official figures, including Palestinian leaders.
Ghaith has been under house arrest for various lengths of time since 2018. Last year he traveled abroad — to Morocco — for the first time to attend an event supporting Jerusalem, after years of being denied the right to travel.
The Palestinian Authority said that Israeli authorities’ measures against Ghaith were intended “to cut off his connection with the political and national scenes in the occupied capital (Jerusalem),” the WAFA news agency reported.
