The Kerem Shalom crossing, which was scheduled to reopen on Wednesday to some thousands of Palestinians seeking to travel home to the Gaza Strip, will remain closed due to technical problems on the Egyptian side of the border.

Some 4,000 Palestinians have been waiting in Egypt for the past week, without adequate accommodations or facilities, in order to cross into the Gaza Strip via Israel. It is unclear when the border will reopen.

During the fighting between Hamas and Fatah, Kerem Shalom was the only crossing Palestinians could use after the Rafah crossing was closed.

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During his meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak at the Sharm el-Sheikh summit last week, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert agreed to relieve the humanitarian crisis near the crossing.

Immediately after Hamas took over the Gaza Strip, Israel asked Egypt to keep the crossing closed since the agreements that governed the operation of Kerem Shalom and other crossings had become defunct in view of the changed situation in the Strip.

As such, the opening of the crossing will not be a permanent development.