(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Dozens of Palestinian doctors and patients held a sit-in at the Rafah border crossing in southern Gaza yesterday, demanding Egypt reopen the frontier to allow people out for medical treatment.
The crossing, Gaza's only gateway to the world which is not controlled by Israel, has been closed since October 25 following a deadly suicide bombing in northern Sinai which killed 30 Egyptian soldiers.
"Open the terminal" read one of the signs held up by the demonstrators, some of whom were lying on orange stretchers.
"The closure threatens cancer patients," read another.
"The crossing must be opened to allow in medication and medical delegations, and to allow Gaza patients to cross for treatment in specialist hospitals in Egypt and in the Arab world," said Ashraf Al Qudra, spokesman for Gaza's health ministry.
Last week, Egypt began demolishing houses along its border with Gaza to set up a buffer zone to prevent militant infiltration and arms smuggling, following a wave of deadly attacks targeting its troops in Sinai.
Cairo suspects Palestinian militants of aiding jihadist attacks that have increased since the army ousted Islamist president Mohamed Mursi, a close ally of the Palestinian Hamas movement, in July 2013.
The restrictions imposed by Cairo on travel through Rafah since the ousting of Mursi have resulted in a sharp reduction in the number of individuals exiting via Egypt, figures published by the Israeli rights group Gisha show.
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