RAMALLAH, Jul 28, 2007 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Palestinian Minister of Prisoners Affairs in Salam Fayyad government Ashraf el-Ajrami said Saturday that the crisis of thousands of stranded Palestinians at Gaza- Egypt borders would end soon.
"The crisis of the stranded Palestinians at Gaza-Egypt borders would end soon, most probably on Tuesday, the middle of the week," said el-Ajrami at a press conference in Ramallah.
El-Ajrami told reporters that an agreement was reached with the Israelis to let 6,000 Palestinians stranded in the Egyptian border town of Rafah with the Gaza Strip go home through other terminals.
He added that Egyptian buses would carry the Palestinians from Sinai desert right to an Israeli border crossing between Israel and Egypt, from where the Palestinians would be brought back to the Gaza Strip.
"With the absence of Palestinian security forces at Rafah Crossing, and amid Egyptian, Israeli and European refusal to reopen the crossing, we agreed with the Israelis to let the people to cross through an Israeli crossing," he said.
Thousands of Palestinians, who left the Gaza Strip through the Egypt-Gaza border crossing of Rafah before Hamas movement took control of the Gaza Strip on June 14, were not able to go back to Gaza after the crossing was shut down.
The stranded Palestinians in Egypt have been living in harsh conditions. International aid groups have repeatedly called for a speedy solution to the crisis.
Hamas movement accused President Mahmoud Abbas for refusing to reopen Rafah border crossing to let the 6,000 stranded Palestinians cross into the Gaza Strip.