Egypt Reopens Gaza Border

Al Jazeera reports:

Egypt has reopened its Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip, allowing the coastal territory's Palestinian residents  to cross freely for the first time in four years - a sharp departure from the policies of Hosni Mubarak, the deposed president.

The opening on Saturday morning provided long-awaited relief for Palestinians. The move was ushered in by Egypt's new government in a bid to ease the suffering of the territory's residents.

Al Jazeera's Nicole Johnston, reporting from Gaza, said there will still be restrictions in place, preventing men younger than 40 from leaving the coastal territory, which is ruled by the Palestinian group, Hamas.

"It will allow basically all women to leave Gaza, also children under the age of 18 years will be allowed to leave, as well as men over the age of 40 years. However, those between the ages of 18 and 40 years will require an Egyptian visa," she said.

"Visas would have to come from Ramallah. Sources in Hamas say they have been told by the Egyptian authorities over the last few weeks that they [Egyptians] do intend to open some sort of representative office inside Gaza, so that people can get the visa from there."

Among the first to cross the reopened border post were two ambulances ferrying patients from Gaza for treatment in Egypt as well as a minibus carrying a dozen visitors. About 400 Gazans were reported to be waiting at the crossing.