A State Department spokesman told CNN that Hamas’ sporadic presence at the Rafah border crossing has made the situation “extremely difficult.”
Hamas fighters have at times prevented Palestinians from approaching the Raf border crossinga, the US State Department claims.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told CNN that the sporadic presence of Hamas at the Rafah border crossing has made the situation “extremely difficult”, nevertheless the Egyptians are ready to accept American citizens and foreign nationals who arrive on their side.
“At times, Hamas didn’t have anyone there to man the border post,” Miller said of the crossing, where many remain stranded in Gaza. “At other times, we have seen Hamas fighters there with weapons and preventing people from approaching the crossing.”
“So, uhthere is a problem in moving people from the Gaza side and to finally cross over to the Egyptian side to undergo the necessary control to enter Egypt,” he said.
“The Egyptians are, for their part, ready, they say, to accept people, foreign nationals, citizens of the United States, if they can get to the checkpoint from Egypt,” Miller said, adding that the U.S. continues to work with Egypt, Israel and the United Nations for that matter.
Miller declined to discuss the status of the hostage negotiations, adding that “talking about our work publicly, in such a sensitive area, doesn’t really help our goal of freeing these Americans.”
The United States, Israel, Qatar, Egypt and Hamas are involved in discussions, the sources said. Four hostages – two Americans and two Israelis – have been released so far. However, efforts are now focused on reaching an agreement to release a larger group of hostages.
Source :Skai
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