RAFAH — Egypt will close the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, a national holiday celebrating the liberation of the Sinai Peninsula as a result of the 1973 Arab-Israeli War, sources told DPA.
The closure will only last to the end of that day, and the crossing will reopen on Thursday, the sources said.
Egypt systematically closes the Rafah crossing on Fridays and national holidays.
Sinai's liberation is celebrated on 25 April to commemorate the date Israelis officially withdrew from the peninsula in 1982, following the signing of a peace treaty with Israel three years earlier.
Egypt has facilitated measures for opening the crossing following its January 2011 uprising. The crossing currently opens for six days a week instead of the previous five, and Palestinian women, children and men over 40 are allowed to pass.
The Rafah crossing is one of the lifelines through which humanitarian aid is transported to residents of the Palestinian coastal strip, which has been under an Israeli blockade since 2007, when Palestinian militant faction Hamas took over following the 2006 legislative elections.
Edited translation from DPA
