Last update - 00:00 08/07/2007
PA ministers visit Gaza residents stranded in northern Sinai
By The Associated Press
Ministers of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' emergency government on Sunday visited Palestinians who have been stranded in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula because the Egypt-Gaza border crossing has remained closed for nearly month.
The delegation, which was headed by Information Minister Riyad al-Malki, met with Palestinians in the Sinai cities of Rafah and el-Arish, telling them that they are considered one of most important priorities of the new government, and promised that they would work to allow them to return home.
But they were met by frustrated Palestinians in this northern Sinai city, who yelled at the visiting delegation, shouting slogans including: We don't want Fatah or Hamas, we just want to get out of here.
The Rafah border terminal on the Egyptian-Gaza Strip border has been closed since June 9, the start of the final round of bloody factional fighting that led to Hamas' takeover of the coastal strip. Egyptian security officials estimate that 4,000 Palestinians are stranded in the Sinai.
The Rafah terminal is operated by Egypt and the Palestinian security forces, without direct Israeli involvement. On Saturday, the EU said it was scaling back its monitoring mission at the Gaza-Egypt border, suggesting Gaza's only gateway to the world would not reopen anytime soon.
Israel has proposed rerouting the stranded travelers through Kerem Shalom, an Israeli-controlled crossing into Gaza. But Hamas has rejected the idea, apparently for fear of setting a precedent.
Al-Malki blamed the militant Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, for keeping the Palestinians in Egypt.
"Hamas wants to keep the Palestinians suffering as long as possible and use it as a political gain," he said.
In the past year, since the capture of Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit by Hamas-allied militants in Gaza, Rafah has been closed repeatedly. In recent months, there had been a slight improvement, but the terminal has been closed continuously since June 9.