Palestinians breach border, pour into Egypt

Gunmen destroyed most of 7-mile wall; Gazans cross to buy scarce goods

Abid Katib / Getty Images Palestinians cross the Rafah border into Egypt over a barrier destroyed by masked militants on Wednesday.

RAFAH, Gaza Strip - Tens of thousands of Palestinians on foot and on donkey carts poured into Egypt from Gaza Wednesday after masked gunmen used land mines to blast down a seven-mile barrier dividing the border town of Rafah.

The border breach was a dramatic protest against the closure of the impoverished Palestinian territory imposed last week by Israel.

Jubilant men and women crossed unhindered by border controls over the toppled corrugated metal along sections of the barrier, carrying goats, chickens and crates of Coca-Cola. Some brought back televisions, car tires and cigarettes and one man even bought a motorcycle. Vendors sold soft drinks and baked goods to the crowds.

They were stocking up on goods made scarce by the Israeli blockade and within hours, shops on the Egyptian side of Rafah had run out of stock. The border fence had divided the Rafah into two halves, one on the Egyptian side and one in southern Gazan.

‘Freedom is good’
Ibrahim Abu Taha, 45, a Palestinian father of seven, was in the Egyptian section of Rafah with his two brothers and $185 in his pocket.

“We want to buy food, we want to buy rice and sugar, milk and wheat and some cheese,” Abu Taha said, adding that he would also buy cheap Egyptian cigarettes.

Abu Taha said he could get the basic foods in Gaza, but at three times the cost.

Police from the militant Islamic group Hamas, which controls Gaza, directed the traffic. Egyptian border guards took no action, imposing no border controls for those who crossed.

“Freedom is good. We need no border after today,” said unemployed 29-year-old Mohammed Abu Ghazal.

Mubarak: ‘The Palestinians ... are starving’
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak told reporters in Cairo his border guards originally had forced back the Gazans on Tuesday.

“But today a great number of them came back because the Palestinians in Gaza are starving due to the Israeli siege,” he said.

No starvation has been reported in Gaza. But many of the 1.5 million residents have faced critical shortages of electricity, fuel and other supplies over months because Gaza has been virtually sealed since Hamas seized control of the territory by force in June.

“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,” Mubarak said.

Egypt has largely kept its border with Gaza closed since the Hamas takeover amid concerns of a spillover of Hamas-style militancy into Egypt. But the government is under public pressure at home to help the impoverished Gazans.

Boon to Hamas
The collapse of the border, although likely temporary, is a boon to Hamas. It briefly eases the international blockade of Gaza and gives the Islamic militants possible leverage in demanding new border arrangements.

At the same time, it will likely raise tensions between Egypt and Israel, which fears militants and weapons will flood Gaza in growing numbers.

Hamas supreme leader Khaled Mashaal said from Syria that Hamas was willing to work out a new border arrangement with Egypt and the rival Fatah faction led by moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

In Gaza, Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh called for an urgent meeting with Egypt and Fatah to work out a new shared arrangement for Gaza’s border crossings and suggested that Hamas would be prepared to cede some control to the rival government of moderate Abbas in the West Bank.

“We don’t want to be the only ones in control of these matters,” Haniyeh said, speaking from his Gaza City office live on Hamas TV.

But the call was swiftly denounced by Abbas’ government. Ashraf Ajrami, a Cabinet minister in Abbas’ government, said Haniyeh’s call for participation was meant to sidestep Abbas’ demand that Hamas return all of Gaza to his control.

“Everything Haniyeh is saying is simply to exploit this situation to win political gains. ... It is a part of the problem, not the solution,” Ajrami said.

Hamas seized control of Gaza by force in June, routing pro-Fatah security forces. Israel and Egypt sealed their border crossings with the coastal territory in response, and Abbas established another government in the West Bank. The two bitter rivals have not had formal contact since.

Israel expressed concern that militants and weapons might be entering Gaza from Egypt amid the chaos, and said Egypt is responsible for restoring order.

Israel also is in a difficult situation. It is concerned about the free flow of militants and weapons into Gaza, but cannot be seen as criticizing Egypt too strongly, for fear of alienating one of the few Arab countries it has a peace treaty with.

“Israel has no forces in Gaza or Egypt, and the Egyptians control the border, and therefore it is the responsibility of Egypt to ensure that the border operates properly according to the signed agreements,” said Arye Mekel, a spokesman for Israel’s Foreign Ministry.

“We expect the Egyptians to solve the problem,” he added. “Obviously we are worried about the situation. It could potentially allow anybody to enter.”

Not the first border breach
Palestinians have broken through the Egypt border several times since Israel pulled out of Gaza in 2005 and stopped patrolling the border. But none of the previous breaches approached the scale of Wednesday’s destruction, which demolished two-thirds of the seven-mile partition.

The border wall erected by Israel after the outbreak of a second Palestinian uprising in 2000.

Moussa Zuroub, a 28-year-old Palestinian, carried his young daughter Aseel on his shoulders, trudging through the muddy streets of Egyptian Rafah.

“I’m coming just to break that ice — that all my life, I’d never left Gaza before,” Zuroub said.

In Egyptian Rafah, a market stall selling pistols and ammunition clips for Kalashnikov assault rifles had no customers Wednesday. Weapons are generally brought into Gaza through smuggling tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border.

An off-duty Hamas policeman, who only gave his first name as Abdel Rahman, said there was no need to buy weapons from Egypt.

“You can buy weapons in Gaza, guns and RPGs,” he said, adding that they were easier to find than Coca-Cola.

The destruction of the wall began before dawn Wednesday, when Palestinian gunmen began using land mines to blow holes in the border partition that divides Rafah, witnesses said.

There were 17 explosions in all, Hamas security officials said. At first, Hamas and Egyptian security officers prevented people from getting through, witnesses said. But by morning thousands of Gazans had massed at the border and overwhelmed police began letting people cross.

Most Egyptian security and police were later pulled out from the immediate vicinity of the border, Egyptian security officials said.

In Washington, White House press secretary Dana Perino blamed Hamas for the chaos in Gaza and said the instability was “very troubling” for Israel.

“It is Hamas’ actions of lobbing upwards of 150 rockets a day into their territory that has caused the blockade — has caused Israel to implement the blockade,” Perino said. “Hamas is not in control of the situation, they are not governing well, and the people of the — the Palestinian people are starting to realize that they do have a choice,” she added.

“The Palestinians living in Gaza are living under chaos because of Hamas, and the blame has to be placed fully at their feet.”

Weeklong blocakde
Wednesday’s chaotic scenes came almost a week after Israel imposed a tight closure on Gaza, backed by Egypt, in response to a spike in Gaza rocket attacks on Israeli border towns.

Pictures of children marching with candles and people lining up at closed bakeries in a blacked-out Gaza City evoked urgent appeals from governments, aid agencies and the United Nations for an end to the closure.

Israel maintained that Hamas was creating an artificial crisis but nonetheless eased the closure slightly on Tuesday, transferring fuel to restart Gaza’s only power plant, and also sent in some cooking gas, food and medicine.

Israel has pledged to continue limited shipments because of concerns about a possible humanitarian crisis, but Israeli defense officials said Wednesday there would be no new shipments for the time being.

“We don’t want a humanitarian crisis, but the Hamas government who is responsible for the launching of rockets into Israel had to be weakened by all means,” Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Wednesday on a visit to Paris.

The rocket fire by Gaza militants has sent residents in Israeli border communities scrambling for shelter several times a day. The rockets have traumatized many area residents and killed 12 Israelis in six years. The attacks have persisted despite the closure.

In a clash early Wednesday with Israeli forces near the closed Sufa crossing into Gaza, a Hamas militant was killed, Palestinian officials said. The Israeli military said soldiers exchanged fire with Palestinian militants in the area.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22794305/

   Many years ago I learned as a child staying at a relatives rat infested home, that even a rat chased into a corner will turn around and attack you, brooms and all! Putting human beings behind walls and then shutting off electricity, gas and produce certainly dehumanizes them to the level of "cornered rats" that in desperation will tear down those walls or die trying. In my opinion, Israel's "Gaza blockade" is overkill and unjustified, even in the face of Hamas mortar strikes into Israeli territory. With Israel's military technology, precision air strikes can be made on Hamas targets. Hamas as become a disease to the Palestinian people that needs to be rooted out. As I see it, a viable solution to this crisis would be for Egypt, who now recognizes "the right of Israel to exist" and who certainly doesn't want Hamas to spread within it's borders, to temporarily occupy Gaza and destroy Hamas, with the aid of Fatah and Israeli forces. I believe the Gaza Palestinians would welcome temporary occupation by Egypt , if such occupation would rid them of Hamas. Pray for the Gaza Palestinians. To hell with Hamas!

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