Rafah is the only major crossing between Gaza and the outside world that does not border Israel, which blockades the strip and allows passage — rarely — only on humanitarian grounds.

Egypt shut the crossing on October 25 after Islamist fighters in Sinai killed 33 members of its security forces.

Since then, Cairo has opened the crossing only twice to allow thousands of Palestinians stranded in Egypt and beyond to return to Gaza.

“Egyptian authorities have formally informed the Palestinian side that the terminal will be opened in both directions to allow stranded Palestinians to cross into Gaza,” said Palestinian border authority head Maher Abu Sabha.

Mr Sabha said patients and stranded residents were being allowed through the terminal today and estimated that around 3,000 Palestinians have been stranded on the Egyptian side of the border.

“Students will be allowed to cross on Monday,” he said, going on to call on Egyptian authorities to permanently reopen the crossing.

But an Egyptian official, citing “security reasons,” said there was no decision yet to allow the permanent and full opening of the crossing.

The crossing is Gaza’s sole gateway to the outside world for many of the 1.8 million people in the Palestinian territory who avoid travelling through the Israeli-controlled Erez crossing in the northern part of the besieged enclave.

Police arrest extremists

ISRAELI police rounded up eight Jewish extremists from a racist anti-Arab organisation over Saturday night, a spokeswoman said today.

It was the second such swoop targeting the Lehava group within a week.

The suspects were rounded up as part of a series of raids across central and southern Israel and the occupied West Bank, said police spokeswoman Luba Samri.

All eight belong to Lehava, an extremist right-wing group that fights against fraternisation between Jews and gentiles.

They were “on suspicion of offences involving incitement to carry out acts of violence and terror for racist motives,” Ms Samri said.