Egypt closes Rafah again, didn't let any Gazans out

From Ma'an:

Egyptian authorities closed the Rafah crossing with the Gaza Strip on Tuesday after it was open for two days to allow Palestinians stranded in Egypt to return home, a statement said.

The Palestinian department of borders and crossings said in a statement that 554 travelers were allowed to return to Gaza throughout the two days the crossing was open.

Rafah was only open for Palestinians entering Gaza via Egypt, and not vice versa.

Egypt also opened the crossing for two days last week, when some 500 stranded Palestinians were allowed to enter.

Before last Wednesday, the terminal had been closed for more than 30 consecutive days.

So Egypt only allowed Gazans back in, but didn't allow anyone to leave.

This also means that the "aid" convoys that Egypt used to regularly allow into Gaza, like Miles of Smiles, have been barred as well.

Egypt has real security concerns in the Sinai, and they have every right to close the border with Gaza. Everyone understands this and there is little criticism.

But Israel, whose citizens are directly threatened every day by Gaza leaders, does not seem to have the same benefits s Egypt concerning its much more liberal policies about imports, exports and people movement from and to Gaza.

The double standards continue...