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A Palestinian man throwing stones at Egyptian forces at the Gaza border Monday. (Reuters)
Last update - 04:38 05/02/2008
Report: Egypt reopens border after clashes with Gazans
By Yoav Stern, Avi Issacharoff and Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondents
Tags: Israel, Egypt, Hamas, Gaza

The border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip was reopened Monday evening and Egyptian troops are allowing free passage, Palestinian sources told Haaretz.

A Palestinian man was killed and at least 44 Gazans and Egyptians were wounded Monday in an exchange of fire that erupted between masked Palestinian gunmen and Egyptian forces at Gaza's border with Egypt, Palestinian medical officials said.

It was the most serious outbreak of violence on the border since Hamas militants blew down the border wall on January 23. Egyptian forces resealed the border on Sunday.
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On Monday, a Palestinian militant blew himself up in the southern Israeli town of Dimona, killing one woman and wounding 11 people. He was said to have entered along with another militant from Egypt.

On the Palestinian side, a 42-year-old man was killed and six people were wounded by gunfire, said a Gaza health official, Dr. Moaiya Hassanain.
Egyptian authorities said 38 members of the Egyptian security forces, including a colonel, were wounded.

Egyptian forces fired live bullets at the crowd, wounding several, witnesses said.

Later, members of the Hamas security force fired back.

After the clash, four vehicles carrying Hamas security force members drove in to break up the crowd, using sticks to push people away from the border.

The tensions began when the Egyptian guards sealed the border hermetically Monday, not even allowing Egyptians and Gazans who had found themselves on the wrong side of the border to return home.

Witnesses said anger boiled over in the late afternoon as people on both sides waited for permission to cross over. Gazans started throwing stones at the Egyptians, and Hamas did not interfere.

Youths began pelting an Egyptian command post in the area, and forces there first threw stones back, and then fired tear gas. Medics said 26 people were treated for tear gas inhalation.

Egyptian security officials in nearby El-Arish said Egyptian officers fired in the air. In Cairo, an official said there was a heavy exchange of fire. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to disclose details to the media.

Egypt closed the border on Sunday, using metal spikes and barbed wire, ending a 12-day breach that had allowed hundreds of thousands of Gazans to visit Egyptian border towns.

Egyptian forces detain Palestinian carrying explosives in Rafah

Egyptian police have detained a Palestinian man carrying explosives in the border town of Rafah, security sources said on Monday.

The arrest came as Palestinian militants infiltrated the southern Israeli city of Dimona, carrying out a suicide bombing, which killed one person and wounded 11 others.

In a separate incident, five Palestinians were detained in Sinai on their way to Cairo, security sources said. The men were not carrying weapons or explosives.

On Sunday, a spokesman for Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said that Cairo wants Hamas and Fatah to jointly operate the border crossing between Gaza and Egypt.

Speaking after a meeting between Mubarak and European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana, presidential spokesman Suleiman Awad said that Egypt would not allow the border to reopen. "Egypt is a respectable country," he said. "You can't break open its borders and throw stones at its soldiers."

What Egypt would prefer, he said, is for the Rafah crossing to reopen under the same arrangements that were in place before Hamas took over Gaza last June - namely, under Palestinian control alongside EU monitors. The monitors left after the Hamas takeover, causing the crossing to be shut. Now, said Awad, "the ball is in the Europeans' court."

Solana said that the EU monitors would return if all parties concerned agreed, and added that the EU was working to achieve such an agreement.

Awad also stressed that Hamas needed to reach an agreement on this issue with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah movement. Egypt's proposal, he said, is that Fatah and Hamas operate the crossing jointly.

Egyptian policemen and Hamas officials jointly erected a wire fence and iron barriers along the Gaza border Sunday, and Egyptian policemen then deployed along the makeshift wall with clubs. Despite the closure, some Palestinians were allowed into Egypt, but fewer than in previous days.

Hamas said that Egypt must now reach an agreement with it on reopening the border officially.

After the Dimona bombing on Monday, the town's mayor said Defense Minister Ehud Barak promised him that a security fence would be constructed along Israel's border with Egypt by 2010.


Related articles:
  • Abbas rejects Hamas' call for control of Gaza-Egypt border
  • Abbas: No talks with Hamas despite Gaza border chaos
  • Press source: Egypt rules out Fatah-Hamas talks in near future

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      1.   Shared responsibilities as well? 06:08  |  geoff 04/02/08
      2.   Egypt and the Arab refugees problem. 07:37  |  Harold Lane 04/02/08
      3.   Hamas, Fatah should control Gaza border together 08:07  |  akiva (zionist) 04/02/08
      4.   Rafah Fraud Didn`t and Won`t Work 08:42  |  Mark of Lewiston 04/02/08
      5.   For Akiva, on Israel # 2 09:01  |  Clickfool 04/02/08
      6.   This reminds me of the court decision that... 10:06  |  MaryRose 04/02/08
      7.   #4, Mark of Lewiston 11:14  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 04/02/08
      8.   "the ball is in the Europeans` court" 14:41  |  The Judge 04/02/08
      9.   Cipora, since GW Bush is so free w/ troops 17:07  |  MaryRose 04/02/08
      10.   Israel Proven Right Again 19:00  |  Brad 04/02/08
      11.   border 19:01  |  colin 04/02/08
      12.   Hamas encouraged Gazans to throw stones at Egyptians 19:23  |  Gina 04/02/08
      13.   muslim on muslim violence ..what the hell?? we want the monopoly 21:07  |  the zionist state. 04/02/08
      14.   Egypts wall torn down. part two 21:17  |  Avram 04/02/08
      15.   Egypts wall torn down part one 21:18  |  Aram 04/02/08
      16.   Why not seal Israel-Egypt border? 21:24  |  Richard S 04/02/08
      17.   Another Black Eye For Hosni Mubarak 21:48  |  Norman F Birnberg 04/02/08
      18.   clickfool #5 21:49  |  yossi 04/02/08
      19.   The Egyptians were scared and that is bad 21:51  |  Mark Lincoln 04/02/08
      20.   borders 22:01  |  Steven Rosenfeld 04/02/08
      21.   Israel should retake Gaza AND the Sinai 22:03  |  Sean 04/02/08
      22.   egyptians finding out what israeli`s has... . 22:05  |  dealt with 04/02/08
      23.   Egypt controlling its own border 22:33  |  Mark 04/02/08
      24.   Arabs killing Arabs - no story here. 22:37  |  David 04/02/08
      25.   You`re an idiot, Sean # 21 22:50  |  Clickfool 04/02/08
      26.   Notice hypocrisy in captioned photo above... 22:52  |  common sense 04/02/08
      27.   Aram - learn your bloody history mate... 23:23  |  kiwi girl 04/02/08
      28.   kiwi girl - your bloody history qualifications stink! 23:50  |  Figaro 04/02/08
      29.   25 clickfool 23:57  |  leo 04/02/08
      30.   clickfool,the true idiot,just look at his/her name 00:15  |  terrornator 05/02/08
      31.   Egyptian forces fired live bullets at the crowd 00:26  |  vik 05/02/08
      32.   Mubarak cannot deliver 00:28  |  Mark B. 05/02/08
      33.   # 21. Sean. Israel has disengaged from Gaza. 00:37  |  Stephen. 05/02/08
      34.   Egypt reopens border 01:04  |  Gina 05/02/08
      35.   7 Cipora Julianna Kohn 01:16  |  Mark of Lewiston 05/02/08
      36.   #28 Kiwi girl - as usual, your facts aren`t more than fiction 01:17  |  * BEN JABO 05/02/08
      37.   Nice to Hear That Egypt FInally Has A Sovereign Authority 01:17  |  Brad 05/02/08
      38.   egypt 01:18  |  Yaacob 05/02/08
      39.   #26 hypocrisy 01:25  |  Yaacob 05/02/08
      40.   In the End Egypt Will Deal With Hamas 01:32  |  Jane 05/02/08
      41.   Arabs Are Gradually Protesting Arabs Leaders War Crimes 02:13  |  Joseph . E 05/02/08
      42.   Clickfool @#5 the question was rhetorical, stupid. 02:14  |  akiva (zionist) 05/02/08
      43.   Hamas, Palestinians apparently loved by everyone 02:23  |  Ben 05/02/08
      44.   let`s consider possibilities/probabilities 02:36  |  bozhidar balkas 05/02/08
      45.   It proves violence works with Egypt 03:20  |  Abdul aziz 05/02/08
      46.   New reality 03:33  |  Baz Mann 05/02/08
      47.   after clashes. 03:55  |  ljf-canada 05/02/08
      48.   BEN JABO #36 04:25  |  oetis 05/02/08
      49.   #27 "kiwi girl" with such high moral standards 04:31  |  Bob 05/02/08
      50.   #27 noLegsToStandOn 05:51  |  Yaacob 05/02/08
      51.   #26 "commonsense" 05:54  |  MaryRose 05/02/08
      52.   Confirmation Required 05:55  |  Ahmose The Egyptian 05/02/08
      53.   To Kiwi Girl (#27): About the history you mentioned ... 06:33  |  Morris Valentine 05/02/08
      54.   #35, Mark of Lewiston 06:49  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 05/02/08
      55.   Additional Egypt forces to police Gaza Border? 07:18  |  The Archives 05/02/08
      56.   #27; kiwi girl, yes learn your history 07:28  |  Doc Holliday 05/02/08
      57.   FATAH is NOT the authority 07:40  |  VIPER 05/02/08
      58.   Mubarak wants to live, so may I suggest ..... 12:01  |  spyguy 05/02/08
      59.   KIWIGIRL.AZZAM PASHA Arab league secretary said on aim of war 12:38  |  PETER SM 05/02/08
      60.   # 53 Morris Valentine... 13:44  |  Lynn 05/02/08
      61.   #7 Cipora: Resistance is Legitimate 17:58  |  Janet 05/02/08
      62.   Wake up Palestinians 18:17  |  Adam 05/02/08
      63.   It`s Hamas`s ball. 19:09  |  Charles Smyth 05/02/08
      64.   #26 2ND TRY Common Sense?? 21:50  |  * BEN JABO 05/02/08
      65.   #26 00:09  |  Adam 06/02/08
      66.   Picture 00:11  |  Adam 06/02/08
      67.   #26-2 common sense - The child has a heavy beard 23:40  |  * BEN JABO 06/02/08
      68.   #48 oetis - sorry I had overlooked your post 01:15  |  * BEN JABO 07/02/08
      69.   egypt borders 16:19  |  nugent 29/07/08
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