Egypt initially planned to open the border Sunday and Monday only
Egyptian authorities announced on Monday the extension of the opening of Rafah border crossing for an additional day, after initially planning to open the border Sunday and Monday only.
On Sunday and Monday, 995 passed through the crossing; 614 entered Egypt while 381 left Egypt to Gaza.
This is the second time that the crossing has opened to Palestinians in the Israeli-besieged Gaza Strip since one of the deadliest attacks on Egyptian soldiers took place in North Sinai in October.
On 24 October, militants killed 31 army personnel and injured at least 30 others in a single car bomb attack in North Sinai. The border has been closed since then, apart from a two-day period starting 26 November.
Egyptian authorities have kept the crossing mostly closed since former president Mohamed Morsi's ouster in 2013, citing security concerns in the north of the peninsula where Islamist militants are active.
Egypt has accused Hamas, which rules the Gaza strip, of involvement in terrorist activities in Sinai Peninsula.
Hamas leaders have distanced themselves from violence in Egypt and say they have no armed presence in areas outside Palestinian areas.
Egypt’s army has been facing a decade-long jihadist militant insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula, with militant attacks increasing over the past year and expanding into Cairo and the Nile Delta, killing hundreds of army and police personnel.
The military has also announced killing and arresting hundreds of militants.
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File photo of Rafah border crossing, 2009.  

On Sunday,  opened the  for two days, allowing many people, who had been waiting since it closed two months ago following a terror attack in the , to cross the border with the  in both directions. On Monday, Egyptian authorities announced they were opening the border crossing for another day.

During the first two days, almost 1,000 people passed through the border crossing, about two thirds of them from the Gaza Strip to Egypt and a third in the opposite direction. Gaza citizens who had been stuck in Egypt as they were unable to enter the Gaza Strip, were able to return home. Director of Gaza Strip border corssings Maher Abu Sabha said those who crossed to the Egyptian side were people in need of medical treatment or who hold an overseas stay permit, only.

On October 24, a car bomb detonated in northern Sinai, causing the death of 31 Egyptian security personnel and injuring 30 or more. Following the attack and as part of the Egyptian authorities' long-term fight against  in the Sinai peninsula, the Rafah border crossing was closed, and opened for only two days in late November.