Egypt closes Rafah crossing after deadly attack in Sinai

Egypt Saturday shut down the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip following the deadly attack in Sinai Friday, officials said.

The Gaza-based corporation for crossings and borders said in an e-mailed press statement that Egyptian authorities have officially informed the Palestinian side about the closure of the main crossing for the coastal enclave, Xinhua reported.

"Egypt informed us today morning that it shut down Rafah crossing until further notice due to the deteriorated security situation in Sinai," said the statement.

On Friday, a series of deadly attacks carried out by militants in Sinai in Egypt killed at least 30 Egyptian soldiers and wounded dozens. In the wake of the attack, Egypt declared a state of emergency in the Sinai Peninsula.

The Rafah crossing point is the only gate for around two million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip that has been under an Israeli blockade imposed since the violent takeover by the Hamas movement of the enclave in 2007.

Over the past eight years, Egypt has been temporarily opening the crossing for humanitarian cases, mainly students studying abroad, patients who need urgent medical care and Palestinians holding dual nationalities.