EU agrees to 6-month Gaza border extension

Middle East: The European Union has agreed to a six-month extension of the monitoring of the Gaza-Egypt border crossing at Rafah, officials said on Tuesday.

EU foreign ministers urged Israel to "respect previous agreements and ... to do its utmost to ensure that they (Gaza's border crossings) are opened and remain open."

According to a senior Western diplomat Rafah would be open two days a week, but both sides would “‘try their best to keep the crossing open more often''.

Israel has the power to block the crossing, which is technically controlled by the Palestinians, as they have in the past due to threats from Palestinian insurgents.