Egypt closed the Rafah border crossing with Israel today, having opened it for a day to provide medical treatment and to allow the evacuation of wounded Palestinians in the war-torn Gaza Strip.
Egyptian authorities said the decision was taken due to "extremely dangerous" and "militant" activity in Arish and Rafah, official media reported.
The closure of the crossing came as security forces clashed with Palestinian militants at the opening of one of the tunnels in Egypt's border city of Rafah following the attempts to smuggle 20 Grad rockets and launching bases from Gaza through tunnels in Rafah, official MENA news agency reported.
Egyptian security forces thwarted the attempts to smuggle the rockets and other weaponry, which were to be used to target Israeli forces, reported el-Masry el-Youm newspaper.
Egypt has intensified its efforts to demolish tunnels linking Gaza to Sinai since last year, saying that the tunnels are used by militants on both sides to smuggle fighters and weapons.
