Egypt Moves to Shut Gaza Border

Source: Alalam.ir, 25-1-2008
RAFAH, Gaza Strip--Egyptian border guards appeared to be taking steps to close the border with the Gaza Strip on Friday, witnesses said.
The guards formed a human chain and blocked movement of Palestinians into Egypt with their riot shields.
The Egyptians were allowing passage only to Palestinians seeking to return to the strip after visiting Egypt, in the wake of the demolition of large stretches of the border wall by activists Wednesday.
Egyptian officials had warned earlier that Gazans' brief bliss of freedom, shopping and visiting relatives would soon end with the resealing of the border.
On Thursday, for the second day in a row, scenes of frenzy, chaos and joy played out at the border.
Guards channeled crowds through a handful of openings, where Palestinians pushed, shouted, and jostled their way into Egypt, braving a gauntlet of cows, camels, fertilizer, food and truckloads of cement.
The scene did not play out without violence: "Israeli" aircraft killed four Hamas members overnight in missile strikes around the border town of Rafah, "Israeli" and Palestinian officials said Friday.
Two Hamas activists were martyred as they drove near the shattered border fence with Egypt and two more were martyred while driving in Rafah town, Palestinian security officials said.
In what looked like a first step toward restoring a border, Egyptian security forces on Thursday turned back Palestinians who attempted to travel deeper into Egypt.
Dozens of Hamas members dressed in black stood on the Gaza side of the border, in front of the fallen wall, checking people's bags and packages for weapons, drugs and other prohibited items as they re-entered Gaza.
As the presence of Egyptian and Hamas security forces grew, so did the crowds, as Gazans sought to stock up on basic supplies before Egypt made good on its word to reseal the frontier.
On Friday, Egyptian police formed a cordon, blocking Gazans from passing into Egypt through the main breach in the border.
Angry Gazans threw stones at the Egyptians and scuffled with policemen and shots were fired in the air.
However, Palestinians were still getting through in other areas, and Egyptians posted there made no effort to stop them.
By all accounts, this week's breaching of the Gaza-Egypt border has provided a significant popularity boost to Gaza's Hamas rulers, who can claim they successfully broke through the internationally supported "Israeli" closure that has deprived the coastal strip of normal trade and commerce for nearly two years.
Both Egypt and the Zionist regime restricted the movement of people and goods in and out of Gaza after Hamas won parliament elections in 2006, and further tightened the closure after Hamas seized control of the area last June