Egyptian soldiers along the border with Gaza
Egyptian soldiers along the border with GazaFlash 90

Egyptian authorities on Thursday closed the Rafah Crossing as planned, after it had been open for three consecutive days, reports the Ma’an news agency.

The Gaza Crossing and Borders Department said that four buses managed to enter Egypt on Thursday before the crossing closed, and a fifth bus crossed into the Egyptian side but was turned back.

Three ambulances carrying patients and companions also left through the crossing, as cement and building materials were transported into Gaza.

During the three days of being open in both directions, 921 Palestinian Arabs exited Gaza, and 229 entered it while 60 people were rejected entry, the department said.

Egyptian authorities have kept the Rafah crossing, the only access point to the Gaza Strip not controlled by Israel, virtually sealed since a terrorist attack in the Sinai Peninsula in October 2014, though they have temporarily reopened the crossing several times.

Egyptian sources have revealed that Hamas terrorists had provided the weapons for the lethal attacks in October, which killed 30 soldiers, through one of its smuggling tunnels under the border to Sinai. Hamas denies the allegations.

As part of Egypt’s ongoing crackdown on terrorism, Egypt is establishing a buffer zone along the border with Gaza. The buffer zone was initially planned to be 500 meters wide, but was later expanded by another 500 meters.

In addition, Egypt has destroyed hundreds of tunnels used by terrorists to smuggle weapons between Egypt and Gaza.