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Egyptian anti-riot soldiers surround Palestinian pilgrims in the Sinai on Monday. (AP)
Last update - 21:20 31/12/2007
IDF: Palestinian pilgrim killed at Erez crossing shot by our troops
By Haaretz Service and News Agencies
Tags: Gaza Strip, hajj 

The Israel Defense Forces said on Monday that a Palestinian woman killed the day before while crossing into the Gaza Strip after completing the annual hajj pilgrimage to Mecca was shot by IDF troops.

Hamdia Ahmad Hamdan was killed by gunfire while entering Gaza via the Erez Crossing on Sunday. Four other Palestinians were wounded in the incident,

Earlier on Monday, Palestinian medical workers said Hamdan as well as the four wounded Palestinians had been hit by IDF gunfire, but the army's response came only later in the day.
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The IDF said that a crowd of some 700 returning pilgrims approached a nearby army post, posing a danger to the soldiers positioned there.

The soldiers ordered them to stop approaching, but when the pilgrims failed to comply, troops opened "deterrent fire," according to the IDF. The IDF said the incident is under investigation and added that there was no intention to harm the pilgrims.

Earlier this month, Israel agreed to let about 900 Gaza pilgrims travel through Israeli territory en route to Mecca.

Stranded pilgrims protest in Sinai camps
Meanwhile, Palestinian pilgrims protested, breaking windows and burning some mattresses and blankets, angered by Egypt's decision to house them in temporary camps until a dispute over how they will return to the Gaza Strip is resolved.

An elderly Palestinian woman died of a heart attack when she was caught amid scuffles between protesting pilgrims and the Egyptian police, said local medical officials.

The Palestinians, who are returning from the hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia and include some members of the militant Hamas group, have rejected Egypt's demands that they enter Gaza through the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom border crossing.

Israel fears that if they return through the direct Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza, where Israel has no control, Hamas militants might get through and sympathizers could smuggle cash to Hamas in the isolated coastal strip, which is controlled by the militant group.

Egypt has moved more than 1,100 of the pilgrims into several of 11 temporary camps set up in and around the Mediterranean coastal city of el-Arish.

Angry protests broke out in two of the camps Monday. In el-Arish's stadium, pilgrims set fire to several mattresses and blankets in rooms set up for them, while in another camp set up in an Athletic Village in the city, protesters smashed windows.

The pilgrims shouted angry slogans against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and his government for not allowing them to cross into Gaza through Rafah. Hundreds of riot police surrounded the protesters, while the fires were put out.

A 67-year-old Palestinian woman, Khadra Mahmoud Mohammed Massoud, collapsed and died during the turmoil. Several other elderly Palestinians fainted from smoke inhalation and were taken to el-Arish hospital, said medical officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

After the unrest ended, some pilgrims continued their protest by refusing to accept meals provided by the government.

But several of the pilgrims agreed Monday to return to Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing, and Egypt is organizing their journey, said Palestinian officials in el-Arish, also speaking on condition of anonymity.

Most of the pilgrims are believed to be ordinary citizens, not Hamas members. But the pilgrims include at least 10 well-known figures from the radical Islamic group Hamas - including Khalil al-Haya, a leader of the group - who fear Israel will arrest them if they cross through Kerem Shalom.

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 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.

At the same time, Egypt has come under increasing criticism from Israel, which accuses it of not doing enough to stop smuggling of weapons and money through Sinai tunnels into Gaza. Egypt has angrily denied the accusations, insisting it is doing all it can.

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.

Egypt transported 1,166 of the Palestinians to el-Arish by bus Sunday, while the remainder remain at Nuweiba.

The move has angered Hamas officials and supporters in Gaza, who say Cairo has a moral obligation to allow the pilgrims to return as quickly as possible.

Some 7,000 demonstrators gathered at the Gaza side of the Rafah border crossing Saturday waving Palestinian and Hamas flags and demanding the pilgrims be allowed to enter.

Hamas has accused Abbas' West Bank-based government of pressuring Egypt to conform with Israeli and American demands.

Defense officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters, said Sunday that Israel's policy remains that the pilgrims must return to Gaza through Kerem Shalom.

Mubarak said Sunday that his government was doing everything it could to resolve the crisis, indicating the problem with using Rafah was that European monitors are no longer in place at the crossing.

Under a U.S.-brokered agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, the crossing was operated by Egypt and the Palestinians, with EU monitors deployed on the Palestinian side. During the Hamas takeover, the European monitors fled and Hamas militiamen took control of the terminal.

Egypt allowed pilgrims from Gaza to travel to Saudi Arabia across its territory earlier this month, the first time Egypt relaxed its closure of
the Rafah crossing.

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      1.   i wonder what egypt would do if hamas started 10:46  |  Trembling Palestine 31/12/07
      2.   isolate gaza or starve it to death? 11:04  |  muslim 31/12/07
      3.   #2 muslim 11:39  |  danny 31/12/07
      4.   Gazans refusal to pass through the Kerem Shalom border crossing. 11:39  |  Joseph E . 31/12/07
      5.   Olmert Will Let Them Pass Only With Abbas Approval , 11:43  |  Joseph E . 31/12/07
      6.   I`ve never seen 3000 people kidnapped before 12:22  |  Outsider 31/12/07
      7.   Keeping it Real 13:01  |  KIR 31/12/07
      8.   #1 Muslim Can`t read, can`t think can`t stop aggression towards 13:24  |  Petra 31/12/07
      9.   # 3 Idiot 13:51  |  Futura 31/12/07
      10.   Really muslim you have no idea what you`re talking about 14:50  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 31/12/07
      11.   May she rest in peace 14:57  |  Akkawi 31/12/07
      12.   muslim 15:07  |  scallywag 31/12/07
      13.   futura 15:10  |  scallywag 31/12/07
      14.   Ah Futura, you are so intelligent! 15:12  |  Joe Sittizen 31/12/07
      15.   thank you Muslim#2 15:21  |  Hodeeya 31/12/07
      16.   Peculiar thanks 15:47  |  KUTW 31/12/07
      17.   tsk tsk Muslim 15:48  |  bytheway 31/12/07
      18.   2. muslim: isolate gaza 15:56  |  KUTW 31/12/07
      19.   Condolences 16:00  |  KUTW 31/12/07
      20.   Outcomes and Statistics of Siege imposed on Gaza Strip 16:25  |  Muslim 31/12/07
      21.   To bytheway 16:31  |  Egyptian 31/12/07
      22.   thank you again,.20 muslim! 16:32  |  Hodeeya 31/12/07
      23.   muslim 16:34  |  Iz Ray Leigh 31/12/07
      24.   This is so inhumane --let those people through.. 17:07  |  Dutch 31/12/07
      25.   #20 17:10  |  Sol 31/12/07
      26.   #24 Dutch 17:31  |  Sol 31/12/07
      27.   20Muslim : misleading statistics 17:42  |  KUTW 31/12/07
      28.   #14 Joe Sittizen THE PROBLEM 17:51  |  Futura 31/12/07
      29.   #2..muslim 17:52  |  Nemesis 31/12/07
      30.   29. Nemisis lying for Zion: eyes wide shut 17:59  |  muslim 31/12/07
      31.   #28..futura..talking about idiots.. 18:08  |  Nemesis 31/12/07
      32.   DEBKA reports Hamas being stopped from o smuggling 18:12  |  Jabadini 31/12/07
      33.   31. Nemesis for Zion never sees beyound herself 18:16  |  muslim 31/12/07
      34.   32. Jabbvering joo quotes DEBKA, mossad lies 18:19  |  muslim 31/12/07
      35.   muslim..not much point talking to you.. 18:31  |  Nemesis 31/12/07
      36.   35. Nemesis for zion? does this mean you wont be lying to me? 18:49  |  muslim 31/12/07
      37.   I wish the elderly wouldn`t have chosen 19:05  |  Gina 31/12/07
      38.   Futura, invite Hamas + Qassams to Sweden. Israel will allow it 19:09  |  I 31/12/07
      39.   Nemesis, Sittizen & Co - Israel Pariah state? 19:11  |  Futura 31/12/07
      40.   37. Gina: we have to go on hajj at least one in lifetime 19:14  |  muslim 31/12/07
      41.   TO NOP 2. 19:22  |  DANNY. 31/12/07
      42.   to no 3 danny. 19:25  |  to no 3. 31/12/07
      43.   TO NO 8. 19:30  |  danny 31/12/07
      44.   41. well danny boy of zion i am certainly ashamed of saudi, PA, 19:40  |  muslim 31/12/07
      45.   TO 17 BYTHEWAY. 19:41  |  DANNY 31/12/07
      46.   39. Why we critisize zion 19:43  |  i ain`t lying 31/12/07
      47.   45. so danny boy of zion according to your reasoning 19:53  |  muslim 31/12/07
      48.   Muslim # 20- Outcomes and statistics 20:04  |  Avrum 31/12/07
      49.   RESPOND TO MUSLIM 20:26  |  TOBIA 31/12/07
      50.   48. have a ham in zion: 20:31  |  muslim 31/12/07
      51.   49. TOBIA in zion 20:34  |  muslim 31/12/07
      52.   RESpond # 46 20:35  |  TOBIA 31/12/07
      53.   RESPOND TO MUSLIM 20:43  |  TOBIA 31/12/07
      54.   muslim...take a break a-hole 21:04  |  tired of the lies 31/12/07
      55.   Keep it up Muslim. You amuse us. 21:09  |  MoMud the teddy bear 31/12/07
      56.   ISRAELIS SHOOT YOURSELVES 21:28  |  JH 31/12/07
      57.   muslim 21:30  |  tired of the lies 31/12/07
      58.   muslim...haha 21:34  |  Nemesis 31/12/07
      59.   Sol Israel`s BS 21:39  |  dutch 31/12/07
      60.   #2 Muslim 21:42  |  GPS 31/12/07
      61.   #9 When a dog bites, it is put in quarantine 21:45  |  GPS 31/12/07
      62.   46 Bet $1000 that you ARE lying? 22:01  |  I 31/12/07
      63.   #50 - A good book! 22:05  |  GPS 31/12/07
      64.   Israel has blood on its hands and 22:47  |  Serenity 31/12/07
      65.   2 Muslim,the vile siege continues and only strong measures will 22:58  |  lakshmi 31/12/07
      66.   IDF: Cementing the hatred of 1.3 billion Muslims and growing 23:03  |  Watcher 31/12/07
      67.   muslim 23:14  |  Gina 31/12/07
      68.   muslim stop playing victim and go home 23:15  |  do it 31/12/07
      69.   Zionism is being happy about people dying. 23:16  |  Andreas