Egypt will reopen the Rafah crossing with the blockaded Gaza Strip on Monday, the Palestinian Interior Ministry said on Sunday.

Gaza’s interior ministry said on Monday it was in contact with the Egyptian government to discuss opening the Rafah crossing “permanently”.

Egypt has announced new air travel restrictions and health regulations amid the continuing spread of coronavirus. Under the new regulations introduced by Egypt’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), all incoming passengers, including Egyptian citizens, are required to produce a PCR analysis to confirm that they are coronavirus-free, Al Arabiya reports.

Beginning today, Palestinians stranded on either side of the Egypt-Gaza border will be able to cross for three days in what is their first opportunity in months.

Egypt has started construction of a steel wall running along its 14km (7 mile) border with Gaza, according to eyewitnesses.

Egypt has opened the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip allowing hundreds Palestinians stranded as a result of the coronavirus outbreak to return to the besieged enclave, Anadolu Agency reported.

Egypt on Tuesday required citizens evacuated from abroad to be quarantined at a Cairo airport hotel at their own expense, The New Arab‘s Arabic-language website reported, eliciting anger and opposition from Egyptian travellers upon their return home.

Egyptian expatriates wishing to return are now obliged to sign an avowal stating that upon arrival back to Egypt they will be quarantined in a place determined by the Health Ministry for 14 days, Cabinet Spokesperson Nader Saad said.

In an attempt to ease the tensions flaring up on the borders between Israel and the Gaza Strip since mid-January, Egyptian intelligence resumed its mediation between Hamas and Israel on Feb. 10. The escalation came after Palestinian groups launched incendiary balloons and rockets from the Gaza Strip toward southern Israel, and …

For residents of the besieged Gaza Strip, there are two ways to leave and neither is easy. The first route is via the Erez crossing on the eastern edge of the territory into Israel, while the second option is to travel south to Egypt via Rafah.