Thousands of Palestinian residents stranded at the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing and at Al Areesh airport in Egypt since several weeks have voiced an appeal to the international community to end their suffering and practice pressure on the Israeli authorities to allow them back in the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian government sources reported on Wednesday that thousands of residents, including patients have been stranded at the Egyptian side of the Rafah terminal and at Al Arish airport since several weeks as a result of the Israeli closure. The Rafah terminal is the only land crossing between Gaza and Egypt.
The terminal was closed directly after Palestinian fighters captured an Israeli soldier after attacking an Israeli military post in the southern part of the Gaza Strip; two soldiers and two fighters were killed in the attack.
The stranded residents, who ran out of money and medical supplies, appealed that UN and the Egyptian government to double the efforts to ensure their safe and fast return to their homes in the Gaza Strip.
At least seven residents, including children, died as a result of the harsh condition at the closed terminal.
