Hamas premier Ismail Haniya left the Gaza Strip for a regional tour on Sunday for the first time since Israel and Egypt imposed a siege in 2007, his office said. Sources in his office told AFP that Haniya would visit Egypt and Sudan, after which he plans to go to Qatar, Turkey, Tunisia and Bahrain.
The primary purpose of the trip was to obtain "help and aid" to rebuild Gaza City, but Haniya was also likely to address the issue of Palestinian reconciliation in talks, they said. Haniya entered Egypt through the Rafah crossing, recently opened after remaining largely shut since June 2006 when Israel imposed a blockade after militants snatched soldier Gilad Shalit, who was freed in October in a prisoner swap.
The blockade was tightened a year later when the Islamist Hamas seized control of the territory, ousting forces loyal to the Western-backed Palestinian Authority.
Egypt had largely complied with the restrictions, although it occasionally opened Rafah - the only Gaza crossing that bypasses Israel - to allow aid in and students and medical cases out. In May, Egypt officially reopened its Rafah border crossing with Gaza, more than three months after Egypt's former president Hosni Mubarak resigned, allowing people to cross freely for the first time in four years.
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