Hundreds of Palestinians have crossed into Gaza during the past two days as Egypt opened its Rafah border crossing, prompting the state to open the crossing for a third day. Egyptian authorities announced late Wednesday that the border crossing will be opened for an extra day on Thursday, reported the state news agency MENA. Authorities had announced earlier this week that the crossing, which connects Egypt’s Sinai to the Palestinian Gaza, will be opened in one direction, from Egypt to Gaza on Tuesday and Wednesday. Nearly 800 Palestinians crossed into Gaza from Egypt and other countries on Wednesday, bringing the number of those who crossed so far to 1355, MENA reported. Authorities also allowed 1290 tonnes of building material into the strip on Wednesday, to be used for rehabilitation projects in Gaza, MENA reported. Five hundred and sixty-four Palestinians had crossed into Gaza on Tuesday, alongside 1087 tonnes of building material, MENA reported. The densely populated Gaza strip is home to 1.8 million people and is currently recovering from destruction caused by 50 days of Israeli military operations in the summer of last year, which have left more than “96,000…
