GAZA, May 8 (Reuters) - The main border crossing between the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and Egypt will be opened for three days starting on Saturday under a deal between the Islamist group and Cairo, a Hamas official said on Thursday. The crossing at Rafah has been largely closed since early February when Egypt resealed the border after Hamas gunmen blasted it open in defiance of an Israeli-led blockade of the coastal enclave. With U.S. backing, Egypt has been trying to broker an unofficial truce between Israel and Hamas to stop violence that threatens to derail peace talks. That proposed deal calls for reopening Rafah under the control of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert launched U.S.-sponsored peace talks in November with the aim at reaching a deal on Palestinian statehood before President George W. Bush leaves office in January. Hamas official Ayman Taha said sick Gazans would be allowed to cross into Egypt on Saturday. Palestinians holding Egyptian and other foreign passports will be allowed to leave the coastal territory on Sunday and Monday, Taha added. A European diplomatic source said European Union monitors would not be at the crossing. EU monitors had been stationed at Rafah until Hamas Islamists took control of Gaza after routing Fatah forces loyal to Abbas. (Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi and Adam Entous; Writing by Joseph Nasr; Editing by Alison Williams)
Arab Israelis march for the right of return for refugees who fled their homes during the 1948 war that followed the creation of Israel, which celebrated its 60th anniversary May 8, ...
