World Bulletin / News Desk

Egypt reopened the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip on Monday following a three-day closure, according to Egyptian state media.

Egypt’s official MENA news agency reported that President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi had ordered the crossing reopened -- in both directions -- to allow medical patients from Gaza to receive treatment abroad.

MENA did not, however, say how long the crossing -- the blockaded strip’s only means of accessing the outside world -- would remain open.

In mid-May, the Egyptian authorities opened the crossing for the entire Ramadan fasting month.

Israel’s 11-year blockade of the Gaza Strip has gutted the coastal enclave’s economy and deprived its roughly two million inhabitants of many basic commodities.