Egypt may open border

As four of us await our plane bound for Cairo via Rome, we are encouraged by news that the Egyptian Government may in fact open the Rafah Border.

Dear Delegates,
As we are poised to commemorate the December 27 invasion of Gaza, our delegates from around the world are gathering in Cairo. As you can imagine, the situation is changing moment by moment and there are lots of rumors. Tonight, the Ma'am News Agency put out a release saying, "Despite earlier announcements that the crossing would be closed until January, Egyptian officials will open the Rafah crossing for four days next week, three for general traffic and a fourth for Egyptian citizens. Head of the Administration of crossings in the de facto government Ghazi Hamad announced Saturday that the crossings would be open starting Tuesday 29 December. On Friday Egyptian nationals only will be permitted to cross. Each day 10-12 buses loaded with 60-70 passengers each will leave Gaza"

The Foreign Ministry, however, has told us they knew nothing about this and that our situation, i.e. being denied entry, had not changed. For us, however, this represents a major change because it means there might be an opening since the government can no longer say that the border is too unsafe.

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