Egypt turning blind eye to Gazans plight by keeping Rafah closed

Fri Aug 15, 2014 6:19AM GMT

The Egyptian government has opted to keep the Rafah crossing into the besieged Gaza Strip closed, a decision that adds to the plight of the Palestinians trapped there amid Israel’s brutal onslaught, Press TV reports.

The Rafah crossing, which lies on the international border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip,  works as Gaza’s only gate to the outside world, and keeping it closed is worsening the plight of the 1.8 million Gazans who have been hit hard by the recent deadly Israeli attacks on the besieged territory.
The crossing is considered to be a matter of survival for the Palestinian people and should not be subject to so-called negotiations. However, Egyptian authorities continue to prevent Gazans from leaving the blockaded strip through the Rafah crossing.

Amid Gazans’ pain and suffering, Egypt has only partially opened the Rafah crossing and it has almost totally kept it closed during Israel’s latest invasion of the strip.

“It’s really disturbing to us the way the Egyptian regime has dealt with injured Palestinians and other Palestinian travelers. The role Egypt has played during the war is shameful, and, God willing, we hope its position toward us would change soon,” Ayman Aloul, a Palestinian journalist in Gaza told Press TV.

The people of Gaza say Egypt is denying them the right to freedom of movement just as Israel does.
“Rafah crossing must be fully reopened at least to deal with the humanitarian situation. Rafah is a lifeline for Gaza and for the eight-plus years we have been suffering due to its closure most of the time,” Amer Forah, an unemployed worker, told Press TV.
A group of Egyptian parties along with individuals from various backgrounds have recently issued a statement calling on their government to reopen the Rafah crossing permanently.

“Closing the only exit for the people of Gaza and imposing restrictions on aid passing through it means that the [Egyptian] regime is supporting this [Israeli] aggression,” read the statement.

The Israeli regime has blockaded the Gaza Strip since June 2007, as a result of which the standards of living there have deteriorated markedly. The siege has also led to unprecedented levels of unemployment, and unrelenting poverty in the Palestinian coastal enclave.

Source