The Egyptian border crossing with the Gaza Strip at Rafah was opened Saturday, ending four years of blockade of the strip, dpa reported
However on the first day of the opening only around 240 Palestinians left for Egypt in four buses due to restrictions imposed by the Hamas government in the strip.
The Hamas authorities still require advance registration to cross the border. This measure is set to be lifted in the coming days in order to facilitate free movement.
The Egyptian government decided to open the border to women, children, holders of foreign travel documents, medical patients, students and investors without any special visa.
Men under 18 years and over 40 years were also set to travel from Saturday without any advance security coordination. But special permits were required by Egypt for men aged between those ages.
Rafah's capacity has already been fully booked until July 1, so that Gazans not yet on the Gaza Interior Ministry's passenger list will have to wait at least until then to be able to travel.
Israel and Egypt control all the borders with Gaza since Israel imposed its first blockade in 2006 after being hit by rockets and mortars fired from the strip and after an Israeli soldier was taken hostage. The soldier is still being held captive by Hamas.
The blockade was tightened in 2007 when the Islamist movement Hamas took complete power in the Strip.
Rafah, the only Gaza Strip border crossing not controlled by Israel, had already been open five days a week, but passage was allowed only to students, foreign passport holders and patients on a very limited basis.
The opening of Rafah comes after Egypt mediated a reconciliation pact earlier this month between Hamas and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of the secular rival Fatah. The pact put an end to the de facto Gaza-West Bank split and calls for Palestinian elections to take place within a year
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