|
GAZA CITY: Thousands of Gazans poured into Egypt on
Wednesday after militants set off at least 15 explosions along the
walled-off border with the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, an Egyptian
security source said.
“Thousands of Palestinians have
crossed into Egypt through the holes created by the explosions on
the border. Although they have crossed illegally, it has not yet
been decided how to deal with them,” the source said.
Parts of the border barrier
separating Egypt and the Gaza Strip were destroyed, allowing the
Palestinians to cross freely into Egypt, the source said.
“They are heading to Rafah City
on foot, where they are stocking up on food, fuel and cigarettes.”
Some 2,000 Egyptian security
forces on the border had not intervened but all side roads in Rafah
have been closed down in order to try to control the flow, the
source added.
Witnesses on the Palestinian side
said that Egyptian security forces had not yet intervened.
The forced entry came just hours
after a tense stand-off at the closed Rafah border crossing, where
gunfire erupted after a group of Hamas demonstrators forced their
way across.
The Gazans, mostly women, were
detained by Egyptian troops but released later after baton-wielding
Hamas-run police dispersed the border protest.
They had been demonstrating
against a months long Israeli blockade of the impoverished territory
that was tightened on Thursday to a full-scale lockdown, with Israel
halting all fuel shipments and even the entry of humanitarian aid.
The Hamas-run government in Gaza
has repeatedly called on Egypt to open its border to relieve the
Israeli blockade, which is aimed at halting rocket and mortar fire
from the territory on nearby Israeli communities.
On Tuesday Israel allowed in
shipments of cooking gas and fuel to power Gaza’s sole power
station, which ground to a halt on Sunday night, plunging much of
Gaza City into darkness and prompting fears of a humanitarian
crisis.
But the Palestinians have
demanded a complete end to the siege amid widespread warnings of a
humanitarian crisis.
International humanitarian
organizations have meanwhile kept up warnings of an impending
humanitarian disaster if Israel continues to close off Gaza to all
but vital goods.
On Tuesday an emergency meeting
of the UN Security Council failed to produce a statement on the Gaza
conflict that took into account the impact of the blockade and
Palestinian militants’ firing of rockets into Israel.
Libya, the council chair this
month, submitted a draft that would call on Israel to end its
blockade of Gaza and ensure “unhindered access for humanitarian
assistance to the Palestinian people,” according to a copy of the
text obtained by AFP.
However, US Ambassador to the
United Nations Zalmay Khalilzad told reporters the draft in its
current form was “unacceptable” because “it does not talk
about the rocket attacks on innocent Israelis.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi
Livni said on Tuesday that Israel does not need “to apologize for
protecting its citizens. Israel will continue to act and fulfill its
commitment to its citizens even at the price of condemnation.
“We left Gaza. Israel can no
longer remain the pretext for terror organization attacks against
Israel,” she said at a national security conference, referring to
Israel’s 2005 withdrawal from Gaza after 38 years of occupation.
--AFP
|
