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Thursday, Jan 24, 2008
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Palestinians breach blockade

Atul Aneja

— PHOTO: AP

BEYOND THE CONFLICT: A Palestinian Hamas militant (left) and Egyptian security personnel (right) watch as Palestinians cross the border into Egypt after militants exploded the wall between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on Wednesday. Thousands of Gazans poured into Egypt and returned with scarce items such as food and fuel.

DUBAI: Israel’s effort to enforce a blockade around Gaza suffered a major setback when tens of thousands of Palestinians flooded into Egypt after demolishing large parts of the border wall.

Reacting to the virtual Israeli siege of Gaza over the past few days, Palestinian militants blew up dozens of holes in the wall demarcating Gaza’s border with Egypt. Deprived of essential commodities, Palestinians crossed into Egypt in droves.

Policemen belonging to Hamas — the group which administers Gaza, channelled people through two “gates,” after occasionally frisking some of them. Later on Wednesday, a bulldozer removed a larger piece of the metal wall, allowing cars to pass through more easily.

The unexpected Palestinian move appeared to have pushed Israel on the back foot. Israeli authorities decided to isolate Gaza to deter attacks by Qassam rockets launched by Palestinian groups from the coastal strip from the past several days.

In an apparent turnaround, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak with a reputation of being a key American ally, said on Wednesday he had ordered his troops to allow Palestinians to cross into Egypt from Gaza as they were starving. “I told them to let them come in and eat and buy food and then return them later as long as they were not carrying weapons,” he told reporters at the Cairo International Book fair.

In Damascus, Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal said the Gaza border crossings should be controlled by Palestinians and Egyptians alone. “The most important standard for lifting the siege on Gaza is that the Rafah crossing [with Egypt] be opened and be purely under the Palestinians and Egyptians without any blackmail,” he said. He added that Hamas was willing to work with Fatah to end chaos on the Gaza-Egypt border in the Sinai Peninsula.

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