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Will Israel’s Erez crossing supersede Rafah?

It looks like Israel is allowing more people to cross into the West Bank from Gaza through the Erez crossing, which has raised questions about the possibility of the Erez crossing replacing the Rafah crossing.
A sign is seen at the Erez border crossing between Israel and northern Gaza Strip December 28, 2014. Hamas authorities in the Gaza Strip prevented on Sunday a group of Palestinian children who lost parents in the July-August war with Israel from making a rare goodwill visit to the Jewish state, organisers of the trip said. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR4JF9V
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GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — #Badna_Nshouf_Doffeh (we_want_to_go_to_West_Bank) is a hashtag that has been trending on Facebook since June 3. Hundreds of Gaza Strip inhabitants used it to express their desire to visit the West Bank and its cities. Journalists and young activists posted pictures of themselves holding banners with the name of the campaign “Badna_Nshouf_Doffeh” and “Badna_Nshouf_Quds” (We want to see Jerusalem) accompanied by the hashtag.

The campaign began following Israel’s increasing use of permits for citizens from the Gaza Strip to allow them to visit the West Bank through the Erez crossing. This development stirred an important question about whether Israel’s Erez crossing in the north of Gaza might replace the Rafah border crossing — the border between Egypt and Gaza — in providing passage to the West Bank.

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