Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has ordered the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip be opened on Saturday and Sunday as well as from 19 to 22 October, Al-Ahram Arabic website reported. The border crossing will be open on both sides to allow humanitarian cases to cross. One and a half million Palestinians living in Gaza have been under land, air and sea blockade by Israel since 2006. The border wtih Egypt has been kept closed by Egyptian authorities for several years, although Cairo periodically opens the border for short periods to allow civilians with foreign passports, Palestinian students and those with medical needs to travel back and forth.