Egyptian authorities said Saturday they were reopening the Rafah crossing on the border with the Gaza Strip for three days, allowing hundreds of Palestinians, mainly sick people and students, who have been stranded on the other side of the frontier, to return to the enclave.

Egypt said the reopening of the border crossing on one direction was exceptionally on humanitarian grounds.

The Rafah crossing has been closed to travel for Gazans since the start of the year, leaving more than 20,000 people stranded and in dire need to leave the territory as “humanitarian cases”. It was the longest closure of Rafah, the only exit route to the outside world for Palestinians in the Israeli-blockaded territory.