Sisi opens Egyptian border with Gaza

The Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has opened the border crossing of Egypt with Gaza at Rafah on Thursday for the entire period during Ramadan.

The border with the Palestinian Gaza Strip is normally closed and only opened for a few moments. This would mean the longest opening in years. The opening of the border 'illuminates the burden of the brothers in Gaza', Sisi said.

Egypt closed the border for long periods after increasing attacks on Egyptian security forces in Sinai since 2013. Egypt blamed some of those attacks on Palestinian militants.