RAFAH: Gaza’s Hamas-run government on Monday temporarily re-opened the border crossing with Egypt, shut due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, to allow hundreds of Palestinians to return.
One-way traffic into the coastal enclave through the Rafah crossing would be allowed for the coming four days, Gaza’s interior ministry said.
All those returning would be put into compulsory 21-day quarantine which could be extended, interior ministry spokesman Iyad Al-Bozm said.
So far, only 13 COVID-19 infections have been confirmed in Gaza, all from people returning to the territory or those in contact with them while in quarantine.
But the Strip, under an Israeli-imposed blockade since 2007, is one of the most densely-populated territories on earth and has a struggling health system.
Hamas has imposed a series of measures including closing markets, schools and mosques.
Gaza, ruled by the Islamist group since 2007, had run out of COVID-19 testing kits last week but the World Health Organization delivered 480 kits on Sunday.
At the Rafah arrivals hall on Monday, returning residents were met by dozens of police officers, doctors and nurses wearing protective medical equipment.
Among the returnees were students and people who had been outside Gaza for treatment for other diseases, said doctor Mohamed Abu Salamieh.
The Rafah border crossing with Egypt is the only exit from Gaza apart from into Israel.
Gaza opens Egypt crossing to returnees despite virus
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Gaza opens Egypt crossing to returnees despite virus
- One-way traffic through the Rafah crossing would be allowed for the coming four days, Gaza’s interior ministry said
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Iran’s new supreme leader ‘safe and sound’ despite war injury reports: president’s son
TEHRAN: Iran's new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei is "safe and sound" despite reports of an injury during the war with Israel and the United States, said the son of the Iranian president on Wednesday.
"I heard news that Mr Mojtaba Khamenei had been injured. I have asked some friends who had connections. They told me that, thank God, he is safe and sound," said Yousef Pezeshkian, who is also a government adviser, in a post on his Telegram channel.
State television had called Khamenei a "wounded veteran of the Ramadan war" but never specified his injury.
The new supreme leader is the son and successor of the Islamic republic's longtime ruler Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28 which triggered a war across the Middle East.
The 56-year-old Mojtaba Khamenei, a discreet figure who has rarely appeared in public or spoken at official events, has yet to address the nation or issue a written statement since he was declared supreme leader on Sunday.
In a Wednesday report, the New York Times quoting three unnamed Iranian officials said that Khamenei "had suffered injuries, including to his legs, but that he was alert and sheltering at a highly secure location with limited communication".
