Palestinian unity government takes over Gaza crossing points

  • News
  • November 01, 2017
Palestinian unity government takes over Gaza crossing points

Hamas on Wednesday handed over control of Gaza’s crossing points to the unity government, putting into effect the first terms of the Cairo-brokered reconciliation deal.
The take-over procedures have started to materialize on the ground as of Wednesday morning, at 09:00 a.m.
An Egyptian security delegation that arrived in the enclave on Tuesday has reportedly been in attendance.
Hisham Udwan, spokesman of the Crossings and Borders Commission, told reporters that the first step, which is handing over financial control to the consensus government has already been made, in anticipation of the official handover of the crossings.
On Tuesday, a delegation representing the Bank of Palestine arrived at Rafah crossing point between the Gaza Strip and Egypt to take over the process of financial collection of taxes and customs fees.
Sometime earlier, the head of the General Commission of Civil Affairs, Hussein al-Sheikh, said movement in Rafah crossing will be back to normal by November 15, 2017.
On October 12, Hamas and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party signed an Egyptian-brokered reconciliation agreement in Cairo, that enables the consensus government of Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah to take over control on the Gaza Strip.

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