Monday, Egyptian authorities reopened the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip in both directions for a period of four days for humanitarian cases to and from the Strip, according to the Hamas Ministry of Interior.

The ministry said in a statement, "This morning (Monday) several buses carrying passengers from the Gaza Strip left through the Rafah land crossing, on the first day of its exceptional opening in both directions, while the returnees' buses arrived."

The ministry’s spokesman, Iyad Al-Bazam, announced Saturday evening that the Rafah land crossing would be opened from Monday to Thursday in both directions.

More than 7,000 humanitarian cases in the Gaza Strip are waiting for this procedure to be able to leave, while thousands in Egypt are waiting to return to their families.

Nov. 27, the Egyptian authorities closed the Rafah crossing after it had been open for three days in both directions, during which it allowed 2,696 passengers to leave the Gaza Strip, and 829 people to return to it.

According to the ministry, certain groups who meet the conditions of departure are allowed to do so. Most of them are patients who need treatment in Egypt and abroad, and students and holders of residency in foreign countries.

The Rafah crossing is the only outlet that is not controlled by the Israeli Occupation and connects the besieged and impoverished sector to the outside.

According to the safety and prevention rules announced by the Ministry of Health in Gaza this week, returnees to the Gaza Strip will be subject to quarantine at their homes for a week, after they were quarantined in health centers.

The Gaza Strip, where nearly two million people live, has counted more than 51,500 cases and 522 deaths, since the first local infections with the virus were discovered last August. 

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