On Monday, the Egyptian authorities opened the Rafah border crossing -- which links the blockaded strip to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula -- to allow Gazan pilgrims into Egypt from where they might travel to Saudi Arabia.
The annual Hajj pilgrimage is set to begin later this month in the Saudi cities of Mecca and Medina, where more than two million Muslim pilgrims are expected to take part in the ritual this year.
In a related development, a Palestinian NGO said Friday that the Egyptian authorities had stopped an Algerian humanitarian-aid convoy from crossing into the Gaza Strip from Sinai.
Egypt re-closes border with Gaza after brief opening
19 August 2017
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Egypt re-closed its border with the Hamas-run Gaza Strip on Friday after having opened it to Palestinian pilgrims for the last four days, according to Gaza’s border authority.
