7,000 Palestinians storm Rafah crossing, pushed back by Egyptian security, terminal closed after riots

Egypt closes Rafah crossing terminal after riots

Wednesday July 02, 2008 15:25 by Rami Almeghari - IMEMC & Agencies

The Egyptian authorities closed on Wednesday afternoon the Rafah crossing terminal after hundreds of Palestinians, mainly patients and stranded, flooded into the Egyptian side of terminal, as their entry has been delayed.

The angry awaiting travelers began heading for the terminal on Wednesday midday after they have been waiting since the early morning , while their entry has been delayed by the Egyptian authorities, witnesses said.

Witnesses added that hundreds of youth hurled stones at Egyptian security personnel, manning the border line, as more security forces have been beefed up to prevent further clashes.

The Egyptian forces responded with rocks throwing and water pumping into the angry crowds, sources at the crossing told media outlets.

From its part, the interior ministry of the ruling Hamas party called on the travelers to come back to their homes as the Hamas forces have been trying to restore calm.

Spokesman of the Hamas's interior ministry, Ehab Al-Ghosain, was quoted yesterday as saying that the Rafah crossing terminal can absorb movement of 1000 travelers in a regular working day, but the Egyptians only allowed approximately 100.

Egypt decided Tuesday to reopen the Rafah crossing terminal exceptionally to allow some dozens of patients who are in need of medical care and hundreds of stranded Palestinians at both sides of the border, to enter.

The Rafah crossing terminal has been closed since June2007, when Israel sealed off all Gaza's crossings following the Hamas takeover of the coastal territory in June 2007. Since then, Egypt has reopened the crossing sporadically.

Palestinian sources estimate that there are 7,000 Palestinians in Gaza need to move outside of the coastal enclave for many purposes, like renewing residency permits in nearby Arab countries, resuming study abroad and visiting family members.

Yesterday, the Palestinian Prime Minister of Hamas, Ismail Haniya, called on Cairo to reopen the terminal and urge Israel to commit to the latest ceasefire deal with Hamas, which Cairo mediated two weeks ago.

The ceasefire deal calls for lifting the Israeli blockade on Gaza in return for stopping homemade shells fire from Gaza into nearby Israeli towns.

Regarding the Rafah terminal crossing, Cairo wants that this terminal be reopened in coordination with the Palestinian presidency in Ramallah and in accordance with the terms of 2005's operation agreement, brokered by Washington, following the Israeli disengagement from the Gaza Strip in September of that year.

7,000 Palestinians storm Rafah crossing, pushed back by Egyptian security

Date: 02 / 07 / 2008 Time: 14:37
Gaza - Ma'an-

Egyptians announced Wednesday the closure of Rafah crossing after thousands of angry Palestinians stormed the gates.

Seven thousand Palestinians stormed the Rafah crossing Wednesday, and were pushed back by Egyptian security soldiers. According to Ma'an sources, none of those waiting managed to cross.

The storming came after an Egyptian promise to open the crossing, in response to an appeal from Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas on his recent visit to the country. The crossing was to be opened to let approximately two hundred Palestinians stranded in Egypt back into Gaza.

On Tuesday approximately 100 Palestinians were allowed to pass into Egypt from Gaza, according to Ma'an sources.

Thousands of Palestinians from Gaza lined up at the border after hearing the news that the crossing would be opened on Wednesday. Sources say that the almost seven thousand Gazans waited in line all day under the hot sun. They became angry when it became clear that Egyptian officials were only going to let a few people across the border, and without any clear protocol.

Border security forces lost control over the angry crowd which threw stones at Egyptian security members. The forces responded by hosing the group down with water and throwing a few stones.

One more patient dies in Gaza as Israel maintains closure

Wednesday July 02, 2008 10:29 by Rami Almeghari - IMEMC & Agencies

Spokesman of the popular committee against the Israeli blockade, Rami Abdo, announced on Wedensday that patient number 200 died after having been unable to go for treatment outside of Gaza as Israel continues to close border crossings for more than one year now.

Mazen Arrar, 20 a cardiac patient, died while he was awaiting to enter through the Rafah crossing terminal yesterday, but he could not do so due to the continued closure of Gaza, which Israel enforced in June2007.

Arrar's death is the second in 24 hours, as well as the eight-month-old infant Ayat Anwar Dhaik, of the Nuseirat refugee camp, after she was unable to go outside of Gaza yesterday.

In the meantime, spokesman of the Gaza's crossings administration, Mohammad Sultan Odwan, told media outlets today that he expects a reopening of the commercial crossings as well as the Rafah crossing terminal by Wednesday morning.

Odwan added that despite the Israeli closure of all crossings yesterday, cargo terminals in Gaza are expected to deliver goods and commodities into the coastal territory by Wednesday midday.

Yesterday, the Egyptian authorities reopened the Rafah crossing terminal, allowing entry of 30 patients , who are in need of medial attention at Cairo hospitals, while more than 150 others could not make their way into Egypt.

The reopening of the terminal also enabled more than 130 stranded Egyptians to come back to Egypt after having been stuck in Gaza since January of this year, when Palestinian crowds flooded into bordering Egyptian towns for essential supplies amidst a crippling Israeli blockade.

The continued closure of Gaza's crossings comes as the ruling Hamas party in Gaza and Israel agreed less than two weeks ago to an Egyptian-mediated ceasefire deal, which stipulates that Israel must lift the closure gradually as Hamas prevents homemade shells fire from Gaza into Israel.

According to Palestinian sources, the past two weeks saw limited shipments of goods, commodities and fuel into the region, as very few number of homemade shells have been fired onto Israel.

Meanwhile, Palestinain Prime Minister of Hamas, Ismail Haniya, called on Cairo yesterday to pressure Israel to live up with its obligations towards the reopening of Gaza's crossings as stipulated in the ceaefire deal.

Also, Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, warned yesterday of what he termed Israel's impatience towards the firing of homemade shells, saying Israel might consider a strong response.

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