Egyptian, European reservations delay opening Rafah crossing, says Khalil Al-Haya

[ 13/07/2008 - 09:44 AM ]

GAZA, (PIC)--

MP Dr. Khalil Al-Haya, one of the prominent Hamas leaders in Gaza, has underlined that Egyptian insistence on the 2005 agreement along with European reservations were delaying the re-operation of the Rafah crossing.

Haya, in a press statement published on Sunday, said that Hamas tabled with the Egyptians its view regarding the operation of the Rafah border terminal between Gaza and Egypt.

He said that Cairo was adamant on opening the crossing only according to the 2005 agreement, which gives Israel the right to monitor traffic across the terminal in the presence of European observers.

The Hamas leader said that the Europeans also expressed reservations on a number of articles included in Hamas's proposed arrangements to operate the terminal, which rule out any Israeli role in the matter.

He said that his Movement would evaluate the situation after return of its delegation from Egypt.

The lawmaker would not go into details of the prisoners' swap deal, saying, "We prefer to remain this issue away from the media until it matures".

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