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http://www.haaretz.com Opening of Rafah crossing brings little relief to Gaza residents (stralci) The Rafah terminal has traditionally been Gaza's main gateway to the outside world, used by residents who need to travel abroad for medical care, business purposes, studies or family visits. In an area with an estimated 45 percent unemployment rate, many want to leave in search of work elsewhere in the Arab world. Even on the May 28 reopening of the Rafah border crossing, there were early signs of trouble. As scores of jubilant travelers lined up at the border, fewer than 400 were allowed to cross. Since then, residents say, there has been little improvement. Even those who do have permits are often refused entry by Egypt without explanation. "The Palestinians can no longer bear the humiliation of the Rafah border crossing," said Yousef Rezqa, a top adviser to Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh in an op-ed article. "We want free and dignified travel." Hamas has becoming increasingly vocal in its criticism of Egypt. The militant group shut the border for several days earlier this month to protest the repeated delays. "We have about 20,000 people on our waiting list," said Salma Barka, director of the Palestinian side of the Rafah terminal. With only 300 people crossing each day, it will be impossible to clear the backlog anytime soon, he said. "The solution should come from the Egyptian side. They should speed up the process and keep the promises they made a few weeks ago," he said. A senior Egyptian intelligence official said that Egypt is working with the Palestinians to try to improve movement across the border. But he said Egypt believes it is "legitimate" to maintain a blacklist of people banned from crossing, and made clear that Egypt is not happy with Hamas' pressure tactics. "Hamas is exercising pressure on us through demonstrations at the other side to give the impression that Egypt was on the negative side," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of Egyptian security rules.
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