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A Palestinian boy watching Egyptian soldiers seal the border with the Gaza Strip, more than a week after Hamas militants blasted it open. (Reuters)
Last update - 00:00 03/02/2008
Egypt: We won't tolerate further attempts to breach Gaza border
By Haaretz Correspondent and News Agencies
Tags: breached border, Gaza, Egypt 

A spokesman for Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said Sunday that Cairo would resist any fresh attempts by the Palestinians to breach its border with Gaza.

Egyptian troops closed the last breach in Egypt's frontier with the Gaza Strip on Sunday morning, witnesses and Hamas security officials said, a week after Hamas militants blasted though the border fence.

The spokesman, Suleiman Awwad, blamed Palestinians, Israel and the European Union for last month's crisis on its frontiers with Gaza.
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Egypt allowed the Palestinians to cross the border because of their humanitarian sufferings and the breaching of the frontier was a reaction against the Israeli siege, Awwad told reporters after a meeting between the president and the EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.

"That will not happen again, never," Awwad said. "Egypt is a respected state, its border cannot be breached and its soldiers should not be lobbed with stones," he said.

"Egypt absolutely will not allow a repeat of what happened because it has a border, territory and sovereignty, and it is Egypt's right and duty to preserve that," Awad added, in remarks carried on Egyptian state news agency MENA.

"The Palestinians' sufferings cannot continue, the Israeli practices cannot continue, the ball is now in the court of the EU and Hamas," he added.

Solana is in Cairo for talks with Egyptian and Arab League's officials on the Gaza border crisis and Awwad called on the EU to work with Israel and the Palestinians to resolve the dispute.

After his talks with the Arab League chief Amr Moussa, Solana said the EU is ready to resume its role on the crossing. "We are ready to continue work in case, there is an agreement," said Solana.

The EU began scaling back its monitoring mission at the Gaza-Egypt border over the summer, about a month after Hamas' takeover of the coastal strip in June and the closure of the border.

Solana is leaving later in the day to Tel Aviv for talks with Israeli and
Palestinian leaders.

Egyptian troops seal final gap in breached frontier with Gaza

Meanwhile, Egyptian troops sealed the final breach in Egypt's border with Gaza on Sunday. The troops were allowing Gazans and Egyptians who remained on the wrong side of the border to cross back, the witnesses and officials said, but had stopped allowing any new cross-border movement.

Egyptian security sources estimated there were fewer than 10,000 Palestinians still in Egypt.

Gaza's Hamas rulers were cooperating with the closure, which they hope will be replaced by a new border arrangement that would end Egypt's sealing of the territory, imposed in June in tandem with an Israeli blockade. For the most part, quiet prevailed at the frontier Sunday.

Egyptian troops used shipping containers and large metal blocks to plug gaps in the border, and a bulldozer reinforced the barriers with sand. Large numbers of Egyptian border guards and riot police, some carrying tear gas guns and batons, were posted along the border, and snipers took up positions on the roofs of nearby buildings.

About 100 Egyptian police formed a human cordon at the border wall's main gate. Dozens of cars and people lined up on either side of the border, some having stocked up on supplies before crossing. One man crossed back into Gaza leading six camels.

Three Palestinians tried to jump over the border wall to retrieve merchandise they had stored in Egypt. But Hamas security men beat them with batons and the backs of their weapons, then fired two bullets in the air to disperse the crowd that gathered to watch.

Related articles:
  • Israel demands that Egypt restore order at Gaza-Egypt border
  • The siege of Gaza has failed
  • Israel said seeking expanded role for EU at Gaza-Egypt crossing
  • EU scales back Gaza-Egypt border monitoring mission
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      1.   NEWS ISRAEL DOES NOT PRINT: 18:54  |  John the Gentile 03/02/08
      2.   I like the sound of it . . . but 19:03  |  Mark Lincoln 03/02/08
      3.   Egypt`s Position Is Disengenuous 19:18  |  Brad 03/02/08
      4.   Classic Case of Closing the Barn Door After the Horse Has Escaped 19:29  |  MIKE 03/02/08
      5.   "Three Palestinians tried to jump over the border wall""Hamas -- 19:31  |  PETER SM 03/02/08
      6.   A Mexican standoff..Gaza / Egypt. 19:42  |  Stephen. 03/02/08
      7.   no problem, all the long range missiles got delivered 20:04  |  jewish doctor 03/02/08
      8.   Egypt and the Arab refugees problem. 20:21  |  Harold Lane 03/02/08
      9.   Collective security starts when collective punishment ends 20:26  |  Morris Valentine 03/02/08
      10.   Arrogant speach 20:50  |  Paul 03/02/08
      11.   mutual peace 20:53  |  Paul 03/02/08
      12.   Boys and toys 20:59  |  H 03/02/08
      13.   The lie of the "Israeli siege" 21:13  |  Joe Sittizen 03/02/08
      14.   #8 Harold Lane - You don`t Know What You`re Talking About! 21:20  |  MIKE 03/02/08
      15.   mine the gaps 21:21  |  frenz 03/02/08
      16.   Excellent move Egypt 21:49  |  Conroy 03/02/08
      17.   #14 22:00  |  Simbad 03/02/08
      18.   To Mike 22:18  |  Khaled 03/02/08
      19.   #14 ugly american 22:21  |  Gregor 03/02/08
      20.   Harold Lane 22:26  |  Palestinian Brit 03/02/08
      21.   # 14 Mike of NYC 22:31  |  Lynn 03/02/08
      22.   #3 Brad 22:32  |  Chris 03/02/08
      23.   #14 Mike-you don`t know what you are talking 22:41  |  Sarah 03/02/08
      24.   TO HAROLD LINE 22:43  |  Khaled 03/02/08
      25.   #14 - Simbad, You`re a Moron 22:46  |  MIKE 03/02/08
      26.   The palestinian apologists are nervous now, really really nervous 23:54  |  Johnny 03/02/08
      27.   khalid sure spends a lot of time on a zionist site 00:18  |  HAL TRIPP 04/02/08
      28.   Hand NOT crossing control to Terror PLO-PA 00:48  |  Joseph . E 04/02/08
      29.   Trusting the enemy 02:09  |  Gregor 04/02/08
      30.   Is anything secure in the Arab world?? 03:31  |  CIA 04/02/08
      31.   Border breach 03:37  |  CIA 04/02/08
      32.   #9 Sounds like you agree w/ GW Bush Morris 04:18  |  MaryRose 04/02/08
      33.   Joe #13 Nice eye for detail And even the EU cut of the 04:32  |  MaryRose 04/02/08
      34.   Mike #14 Don`t try this in Brazil or Costa Rica... 04:40  |  MaryRose 04/02/08
      35.   To Mary Rose 05:56  |  Morris Valentine 04/02/08
      36.   Here`s an Article About Egypt, Egyptions and Arabs 06:10  |  MIKE 04/02/08
      37.   # 9 to morris valentine 08:33  |  eric 04/02/08
      38.   # 27 that`s because for 38 years... 08:56  |  eric 04/02/08
      39.   #14 04:01  |  nick 06/02/08
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