"Israeli" Military kills Gazan woman, hurts 4 others en route from hajj

Source: Haaretz, 31-12-2007
Gazans attend a Hamas rally Saturday to urge Egypt to open the Rafah border crossing to pilgrims returning from the annual hajj.
At least one Palestinian was killed and four others were wounded by gunfire while crossing from "Israel" into the Gaza Strip on Sunday after completing the annual hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, Palestinian medics said.
The medical workers said the pilgrims had been hit by "Israeli" Military Forces gunfire at the Erez crossing on the northern Gaza border. Witnesses said soldiers first fired into the air and then at the crowd of pilgrims.
An "Israeli" Military spokeswoman claimed the army was not aware of any shooting in the area.
Palestinian officials said about 700 pilgrims had crossed back into Gaza on Sunday, having returned from Saudi Arabia via Jordan.
Earlier this month, "Israel" agreed to let about 900 Gaza pilgrims travel through "Israeli" territory en route to Mecca.
Egypt moves stranded Palestinian pilgrims to Sinai camps
A separate group of more than 1,000 Palestinian pilgrims, including members of the Hamas militant group, protested Sunday, refusing Egyptian attempts to move them into camps in Sinai until a dispute over how they will return to the Gaza Strip is resolved.
Unlike the group that traveled to Mecca through "Israel", those pilgrims traveled to Mecca through the Rafah crossing on the Egypt border after Cairo agreed to let let them pass through.
The standoff is the latest outbreak of tensions over efforts by Egypt, "Israel" and the Palestinian Authority to isolate the Gaza Strip since Hamas took over the tiny coastal strip in June.
Egypt has kept its Rafah border crossing with Gaza closed, a move seen as supporting Hamas' rival, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. But Egypt is also sensitive over criticism that it is helping worsen the humanitarian situation in impoverished Gaza.
The standoff over the pilgrims began Saturday, when some 3,060 Palestinians returning from the hajj in Saudi Arabia arrived by ferry at the Egyptian Red Sea port of Nuweiba in southern Sinai, heading back to Gaza.
The pilgrims, along with Hamas, have rejected Egyptian attempts to have them return through the "Israeli" Military Forces-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing in "Israel", fearing that the "Israeli" Military will arrest Hamas members among them.
Egypt on Sunday decided to move the pilgrims to 11 temporary camps set up outside the Mediterranean coastal city of el-Arish, where they would stay until the dispute is resolved, a security official said.
Hamas condemned the decision to move the pilgrims into the tents. "This is additional suffering for the pilgrims," the group said in a statement released in Gaza, saying the tents will lead to a humanitarian and health crisis.