For the first time in 2018, Egyptian authorities on Wednesday opened the Rafah Border Crossing with the Gaza Strip in both directions for three days only. This will allow through patients, students, and humanitarian cases from Gaza, and the thousands of others stuck on the other side of the border. Noor Harazeen has the details.

Thousands of Gaza residents on travel lists, rushed to Rafah on Wednesday after Egyptian authorities temporarily opened the Rafah Border Crossing with the besieged Gaza Strip for three days only. Mohamed Al-Weheidi hopes to make it out this time before it is too late.

MOHAMED AL-WEHEIDI TRAVELLER "The crossing will not open again soon, so if I don't make it out this time, I will lose my job and my life will turn upside down. My children are now in Cairo. I wonder what I am going to do. I see no hope for the future of my life."

It was the first time that the Rafah Crossing has been opened since the beginning of the year. The last time the border was open was 50 days ago. According to Gaza Border and Crossings Corporation, the terminal opened for 35 days only in 2017.

Essam Yunis, a human rights activist based in Gaza, said that the closure of all Gaza crossings and the suffocating Israeli blockade imposed on the territory, have made the humanitarian situation in Gaza the worst since 1967.

ESSAM YUNIS HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST "Rafah Crossing is Gaza's main and only link to the outside world, for the purposes of treatment, family union and work, which means that it must be open continuously. The humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip currently is catastrophic at all levels for several reasons. The closure of all crossings in Gaza and the decade-long blockade have made the situation in Gaza the worst since 1967."

In recent months, an already desperate humanitarian situation in Gaza has become even worse, with the UN's envoy for the Middle East peace process warning that the territory was about to "collapse". Egyptian officials say they are unable to open Rafah more constantly due to the deteriorating security situation in Sinai. Although the Islamic militant group Hamas, handed over all Gaza crossings to the PA government on November 1, there is no indication that the Rafah crossing will operate full-time soon. Noor Harazeen, CGTN.