Rafah, Gaza Strip – Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas formally reopened the Gaza Strip’s border crossing with Egypt on Friday, giving Palestinians control over one of their frontiers for the first time.
“I think every Palestinian now has his passport ready in his pocket,” Abbas said. “Let them come to cross at this terminal whenever they want.”
For Palestinians, taking control of the Rafah crossing is viewed as an important step in both practical and symbolic terms in their quest for statehood.
Ordinary Palestinians in Gaza can now come and go to Egypt and the wider world without passing through Israeli security.
At the same time, the Palestinian Authority will take on the responsibility of managing a sensitive border, though European Union monitors will also be present.
Abbas spoke to more than 1,000 guests assembled under a tent, then cut a ribbon inside the refurbished terminal building at the ragged border town of Rafah.
Rafah’s reopening also settles an important question left hanging when Israel withdrew from Gaza.
The pullout was completed more than two months ago, but the two sides could not agree on how the 1.4 million Palestinians would move in and out of the tiny, impoverished coastal territory.
After weeks of inconclusive talks between the sides, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice brokered an agreement on Rafah and other Gaza crossing points during a visit to Jerusalem earlier this month.
Many Gazans regard Rafah as the territory’s most important outlet because it is the one crossing that does not lead to Israel.
Israel had controlled all of Gaza’s borders since capturing the territory in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.
For Palestinians, it has been particularly difficult to cross Gaza’s boundaries since the Palestinians began an uprising five years ago.