(27 Nov 2014) LEADIN:
Egypt has partially reopened its main border crossing with the Gaza Strip for the first time in a month, allowing thousands of stranded Gazans to return home.
But the Rafah crossing remains closed to those wanting to cross into Egypt, causing further hardship to many families.
STORYLINE:
Arriving home in Gaza after several weeks stuck in Egypt.
These people were left stranded when Egypt closed the border crossing last month because of security concerns.
The crossing temporarily re-opened on Wednesday and Egyptian authorities say it will remain open for several hours on Thursday, but only to traffic leaving Egypt.
Mohammad Abu Tyour and his five year-old daughter, Malak were among the 9,000 people locked out.
"I was in Egypt for my daughter's operation, I tried to come back for more than two or three weeks, but I couldn't," he says.
Malak has been receiving treatment on her hands in Cairo and doctors say she will need to travel abroad for further medical care.
But with currently no way out of Gaza, Malak's mother Neda'a Abu Tyour says Egypt needs to fully open the border to two-way traffic.
"She has no treatment here, it is only abroad, how can she be treated abroad while the siege still exists and Rafah terminal is closed. We took her to Israel for treatment but they also said that she should be treated abroad, how can we get out?"
Thousands of others in Gaza are also desperate to get out for medical treatment in Egypt.
Rafah is the only border crossing in and out of Gaza that does not go through Israel. Israel has also restricted movement in and out of Gaza.
The Rafah Terminal Director, Maher Abu Sabha says: "There are ten's of thousands of people here in Gaza who cannot leave, students, patients, residency holders who lost their permits or are almost expired. Its good to have it open today and tomorrow for people who are stuck there (in Egypt), but we hope that it opens next week for both ways (entering and exiting from Gaza), to let Palestinians from Gaza strip practice their right to travel when they want and wherever they want to go."
Egypt closed the crossing following an October 24th assault that killed 31 Egyptian soldiers in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula.
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