简体中文
Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy said Monday his country works to secure its borders with the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by Islamic Hamas movement.
"Any tension on the ground on the border area between Gaza and Egypt affects the operations at Rafah crossing point," Fahmy told reporters in the West Bank city of Ramallah, referring to Gaza's main gate to the outside world, which passes through the restive Sinai Peninsula in eastern Egypt.
"We are determined to secure the borders without neglecting the humanitarian situation of the Palestinian people" in Gaza, Fahmy, who arrived in a short visit to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and other senior officials, added in a news conference.
Fahmy said he and Abbas discussed the issue of Rafah crossing point.
Abbas doesn't have forces in the Gaza Strip, as Hamas routed them and ousted his Fatah movement in a brief civil war in 2007.
On July 3, the Egyptian military toppled Hamas' historical ally: the Muslim Brotherhood and President Mohammed Morsi, who stayed in power for only one year, dealing a major blow to Hamas in Gaza.
Since the removal of Morsi, Rafah crossing point has been operating at 25 percent of its capacity compared to previous months.
Hamas was also complaining that the Egyptian army launched the fiercest clampdown on smuggling tunnels beneath Gaza's southern border with Egypt. The tunnels served as Hamas' lifeline when Israel and former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak ventured restrictions on Gaza to weaken Hamas in 2007.
Meanwhile, Fahmy said Cairo's goal will remain to support national reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah. "We put all our efforts to reach the Palestinian reconciliation," he said.
