Egypt on Friday closed its border with the Gaza Strip, Palestinian officials said, after Cairo launched a major operation against jihadists in the Sinai Peninsula.Scores of Palestinians who managed to get into Egypt are stranded in Egyptian Rafah, as Egypt is not allowing them to travel anywhere.
The head of Hamas, the Islamist group which runs Gaza, was however permitted to travel to Cairo for talks before the border was closed a day earlier than planned.
Friday was supposed to be the final of a three-day border opening for humanitarian cases from Gaza, the first time the Rafah border crossing with Egypt had been open in 2018.
"The Rafah border was closed today due to the security situation in Sinai, we were informed by the Egyptian authorities," said Saleh al-Zaq, head of the civil affairs committee which controls the borders.
This was the first time Egypt opened the crossing in a month. The supposed PA/Hamas reconciliation was supposed to result in an ease of travel between Gaza and Egypt, but it never happened.
Of course, Western media isn't interested. When Palestinian suffering cannot be blamed on Israel, its news value approaches zero.