Gaza government refuses to replace Rafah Crossing

Gaza’s Hamas-led government has said it will not accept Beit Hanoun crossing replacing Rafah as the link between the occupied Palestinian territories and Egypt, although it accepts it being used to ease the suffering of Palestinians living in the besieged Gaza strip.   Israeli and Palestinian authorities agreed to temporarily open the Beit Hanoun crossing in northern Gaza on Wednesday, after Egypt closed the Rafah border gate due to the security situation in Sinai. In a press release on Friday, Ihab al-Ghusain, spokesperson for the Gazan government, called on the Egyptian government to re-open the Rafah Crossing, describing it as the only vent (to the outside world) for Palestinians in Gaza. The Rafah Crossing is only subject to Egyptian and Palestinian control, Ghusain said, pointing to his government's refusal to implement a 2005 agreement to allow the Israeli occupation performs to supervise who was permitted to cross. "We do not want to deal with the occupation as a reference," he said. The spokesman warned that the current controversy over a revival of 2005 agreement could pave the way for tightening the Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip, adding that his government was prepared to consider the idea of Palestinian Authority representatives supervising the crossing. The official said the Gazan government and Palestinian people understand the current security situation in Sinai, but he blamed elements of the media for promoting the idea that Hamas has a hand in the current crisis in Egypt. Ghusain said his government had asked the Egyptian authorities to hand over any Gazan citizens suspected of causing unrest in Egypt, but Egypt had not responded.