World Bulletin/News Desk

Hundreds of Palestinians stranded in Egypt for weeks have gathered outside their embassy in Cairo to demand the reopening of the Rafah border crossing to allow their return to the blockaded Gaza Strip.

According to an Anadolu Agency reporter, the Palestinian ambassador to Cairo met with protesters and said contacts were underway with Egyptian authorities to solve the problem.

Egypt closed the Rafah border crossing, Gaza's only access to the outside world not under Israeli control, on October 24 following an attack on a military site in the Sinai Peninsula that left 31 Egyptian troops dead.

According to Palestinian sources, some 2,500 Palestinians are currently stranded on the Egyptian side of the border with the Gaza Strip.

The sources said that stranded Palestinians were pinning their hopes of returning home to a scheduled visit to Cairo on Thursday by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.