International   

Fleeing Gazans trapped at crossing into Israel

Camping for six days in a tunnel reeking of trash and sweat

— PHOTO: AFP

STRANDED: Palestinians rest on cement blocks as they wait at the Erez Crossing in the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday, hoping that Israel will allow them passage to the West Bank.

EREZ CROSSING (Gaza Strip): Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak ordered the army on Wednesday to allow into Israel any of the hundreds of Gazans holed up at a fetid crossing who might desperately need medical treatment.

A teenager with leukemia was on his way through shortly after, the military said. Additionally, Israeli officials allowed all foreign nationals in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip to cross over to Israel.

In related news, Israel’s Supreme Court was hearing a petition on Wednesday by a human rights group, demanding that Israeli authorities offer immediate medical treatment to 26 critically ill Palestinians hospitalised in Gaza. Israeli aircraft, meanwhile, fired missiles at two rocket launchers in northern Gaza, in the first aerial attack since Islamic Hamas militants took over the coastal strip late last week. No injuries were reported. Earlier in the day, Israeli tanks entered southern Gaza, and four persons, including at least two militants, were killed in an exchange of fire, Palestinian hospital officials said.

About 200 Gazans, petrified by the chaos in the Hamas-controlled coastal strip, have been camped out for six days in a tunnel reeking of trash, urine and sweat on the Palestinian side of the Erez crossing with Israel, pleading with Israeli authorities to grant them safe passage to the West Bank.

Hamas’ defeat of security forces from the rival Fatah faction has left many Gazans anticipating further chaos and violence. Some in the tunnel feared for their lives because of their Fatah loyalties; others sought a better life than volatile Gaza can offer. Among them were people wounded in gunbattles between the rival factions.

On Wednesday, Barak instructed officials to let in “humanitarian cases” at the crossing, the Defense Ministry said.

No numbers were specified, and specific guidelines for determining urgency were not released. But shortly after the order was issued, a 17-year-old boy with leukemia was on his way through the passage, said Shadi Yassin, a military liaison official.

Saeb Erekat, a confidant of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, said Israel had agreed to transfer 55 people to Israeli hospitals. Israeli authorities were not immediately available for comment on this number.

Two people at the crossing were allowed into Israel on Tuesday.

Israel, which has sophisticated weapons screening equipment in place at Erez, says it is letting through only the staff of international organisations, people with special permission and humanitarian cases. Military officials, who have said militants might try to squeeze through the passage, say not everyone in the tunnel is in danger. — AP

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

No more rulings on ceasefire violations: monitoring mission
Nostalgic celebration of independence
China to build highway to Everest base camp
Row over American “strike” in Pakistan
U.K. Muslims shun knighthood row
Fleeing Gazans trapped at crossing into Israel
Sudan most at risk of failure: report
Attack on home of gurdwara head
Step up engagement with ASEAN: Singapore
“We don’t believe in containing any country”

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu