Israeli army withdraws from Rafah border crossing

The Israeli Army Radio announced on Friday that the army forces had withdrawn from the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, and remained in its vicinity.

The radio said, quoting an unnamed security source, that the army "withdrew from the Rafah crossing and redeployed its forces along the Philadelphi axis in Rafah between the Strip and Egypt."

The source said, "According to the ceasefire agreement (in Gaza and the prisoner exchange) between Hamas and Israel, the crossing will begin opening today, for the first time since the beginning of last May."

He pointed out that the crossing will only be opened for the exit of Palestinians from Gaza, "without any party entering the Strip," he said.