CAIRO, June 3 (Aswat Masriya) - A total of 1,635 people crossed the border from and to the Gaza Strip during the past two days, Egypt's state news agency said on Friday, citing official sources at the border.

The Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip was set to be opened for four days in both directions on Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, the Palestinian embassy in Egypt said last Tuesday.

The border has been crossed in both directions by 499 people on Thursday and 1,136 on Thursday, MENA reported.

The opening of the border comes a few days before the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

The Rafah border crossing, which connects the residents of the besieged Gaza Strip with Egypt and the rest of the world, was last opened earlier in May for two days at the request of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

This is the third time for the border to be opened in 2016.

The crossing was largely closed after a large-scale militant attack on the Karm al-Qawadis checkpoint in October 2014 in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula , which borders Gaza. The attack left 33 Egyptian soldiers dead.

Gaza's area is around 360 square kilometers and is home to more than 1.76 million people, making the enclave among the world's most densely-populated areas.

The strip has been under a land, air and sea blockade enforced by Israel since 2007, after the Palestinian Islamic Resistance movement (Hamas) won the Palestinian legislative election and took control of the strip.