Gaza crossing open for two days

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The border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt has reopened for two days, ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan which begins this week.

A Palestinian official said that only students, the sick and those wishing to visit Mecca during Ramadan would be allowed to cross from Gaza on Friday.

But he said that these restrictions would be lifted on Saturday.

The crossing - Gaza's only route to the world bypassing Israel - has been open only intermittently since late June.

A spokesman for the European Union monitors who are deployed at Rafah said there were no restrictions on access from the Egyptian side.

The crossing has been largely closed by Israel after a raid in which Gaza-based militants killed two Israeli soldiers and captured a third.

Crowds

Hundreds of Palestinians gathered at the crossing on Friday.

Palestinian officials said some 4,000 people were also waiting to cross from the Egyptian side.

An Israeli army spokeswoman confirmed that Rafah would open for 48 hours for humanitarian cases.

Rafah was last opened in the middle of August.

In November 2005, the Rafah border crossing began operating under Palestinian control with EU monitors.

However, Israel is able to block the opening of the crossing by closing the Israeli-Egyptian crossing point at Kerem Shalom. This prevents European monitors from reaching their posts.