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Palestinians hoping to cross into Egypt stand at the breached Gazan border, Thursday. (AP)
Last update - 08:23 10/02/2008
Hamas: West Bank residents could breach border fence, enter Israel
By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent and The Associated Press
Tags: Hamas, Egypt, Gaza Strip 

Senior Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk on Saturday said that the possibility of West Bank residents breaching the border and entering the neighboring Israel or Jordan, mustn't be ruled out.

The Damascus-based deputy political leader of Hamas said in an interview with a Qatari newspaper on Saturday that "all the options are open. There is a need for a pronounced sense that the Palestinian people are able to express honestly any policy that will serve them and remove the blockade imposed on them."

Marzouk spoke 17 days after Palestinian militants blew holes in the wall separating the Gaza Strip and Egypt, prompting hundreds of thousands of Gazans, impoverished by an Israeli blockade, to pour across the frontier in search of supplies.
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Abu Marzouk added in Saturday's interview that the Palestinian people would not leave their land. He also outlined his organization's strategy regarding the situation in the Gaza Strip.

According to Marzouk, the Hamas leaders haven't reached any agreement with Egypt over who should have authority over the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt, near the spot of the border breach on January 23.

Hamas has declared that it demands some authority over the border crossing, while the rival Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Palestinian Authority has refused to allow the militant group any say in the running of the crossing. Marzouk said Saturday that the Hamas organization will not relinquish control over border crossings, even if the Palestinian Authority is granted control. Hamas has rejected all demands that Israel have any authority over the crossing.

On Friday, Egypt boosted troop security along the volatile border with Gaza, a security official said, following an alleged threat by Hamas that the group would stage kidnappings of Egyptian troops if its militants arrested in the Sinai were not released.

The remarks came amid stepped-up rhetoric by Egypt against Gaza's Hamas rulers, reflecting Cairo's growing frustration in the wake of the 12-day breach of its frontier with Gaza and the ensuing border chaos.

Snipers were deployed on rooftops in the Egyptian part of the divided border town of Rafah on Friday, while Egyptian forces were told to move only in armed groups of at least three soldiers, the security official said.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media, said the new orders followed a threat by Hamas commanders to abduct Egyptian security personnel if Egypt fails to release 15 Hamas members arrested last week in the Sinai.

He did not say how or when authorities received the alleged threat.

The Palestinians arrested here were found carrying weapons and explosives near the border and other remote parts of Egypt's Sinai desert, and were said to have crossed from Gaza after Hamas blew up the wall separating the Mediterranean strip from Egypt on January 23, setting of an influx of tens of thousands of Gazans.

But a Hamas spokesman, Sami Abu Zuhri, promptly denied any kidnapping threats against Egyptian troops and reiterated that Hamas is fighting the Israelis, not the Egyptians.

"This is a lie," Abu Zuhri told The Associated Press in Gaza. "It's not true at all. People are spreading these rumors to incite against Hamas."

The border breach was an attempt to end a seven-month blockade imposed on Gaza by Israel, in response to Hamas' rocket barrages from Gaza on Israeli border towns.

But Egypt, which re-closed the border last weekend, is at odds on how to resolve the border control issue and does not want Hamas to have a role on the frontier.

On Thursday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said no further violations of the border would be tolerated and that anyone daring to cross would have their legs broken.

The unprecedented harsh rhetoric reflected increasing tensions between Egypt and Hamas, which rejects Egypt's proposal to bring the Rafah crossing under the mandate of the Palestinian Authority led by Hamas' rival Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president and Fatah leader.

Egypt demands a reactivation of the 2005 crossings agreement on the Rafah passage, which requires return of European monitors. Israel withdrew from the territory in 2005, but still controls access to Gaza, including Gaza's airspace and coastline. Israel also provides the fuel needed to run Gaza's only power plant. It has recently withheld that fuel, causing severe power outages.

Related articles:
  • Egypt warns Hamas against provocations on Gaza border
  • Egypt arrests 17 Palestinian militants in Sinai over weekend
  • Egyptian FM: Whoever breaks border will have his legs broken
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      1.   egypt, israel should work together to snuff hamas 17:39  |  frenz 08/02/08
      2.   Kidnappings 17:44  |  Marc 08/02/08
      3.   Hamas, Teheran·s Proxies. Die Hard 5. 17:56  |  Stephen. 08/02/08
      4.   Now you see their real face 18:26  |  Abdul Aziz Higazi 08/02/08
      5.   The Arabs of Gaza. 18:28  |  Malka Ziv 08/02/08
      6.   How do you like your brothers now? 18:39  |  William 08/02/08
      7.   there is no mention of this in Paletinian or Hamas news 19:01  |  Assad-u-LLAH 08/02/08
      8.   Israelis are Sophistic & Argumentative 19:04  |  Egyptian citizen 08/02/08
      9.   Egyptian citizen living in the UK 19:39  |  Israeli citizen 08/02/08
      10.   Israeli citizen 20:20  |  Egyptian citizen 08/02/08
      11.   #1 Frenzy! you can`t sunff an idea..get used to it 20:34  |  Assad-u-LLAH 08/02/08
      12.   Of course hamas should kidnap Egyptians 21:00  |  Adrian de Klerk 08/02/08
      13.   # 11: `patients` is right 21:12  |  frenz 08/02/08
      14.   Stand Firm, Egypt, Well Done! 21:14  |  Solon 08/02/08
      15.   #1 dream on, Egypt will eat israel alive soon. 21:20  |  :) 08/02/08
      16.   Assad 21:38  |  vik 08/02/08
      17.   Fatah is corrupt 22:10  |  Aoune 08/02/08
      18.   # 5, Forced out 22:14  |  kader 08/02/08
      19.   bite the hand that screws you... 22:19  |  jewish doctor 08/02/08
      20.   I said Egypt will see the real Hamas, now they do 22:46  |  Dish It Out 08/02/08
      21.   Assadulllah - keep your "hymie" racism at home 23:11  |  Polybios 08/02/08
      22.   Assad-u-LLAH # 11 23:39  |  Avrum 08/02/08
      23.   Egyptian soldiers have no walkie-talkies 00:05  |  Rick and TC 09/02/08
      24.   # 7 Assad ...may I direct you to Al Jazeera 00:46  |  Lynn 09/02/08
      25.   Kader # 15 00:50  |  ChanahS 09/02/08
      26.   Assad-u-LLAH 01:13  |  henry 09/02/08
      27.   # 14 Aoune of Jordan...Fayyad is the most 01:29  |  Lynn 09/02/08
      28.   what is the solution 02:15  |  ali abouelela 09/02/08
      29.   # 28 ali abouelela....most of us would wish 03:26  |  Lynn 09/02/08
      30.   THE SOLUTION 05:29  |  US CITIZEN 09/02/08
      31.   Great Journalism From Haaretz! 09:07  |  Paulo 09/02/08
      32.   #13 Frnzy proves on ce again she has never gotten anything right 09:15  |  Assad-u-LLAH 09/02/08
      33.   #24.Lynn? i don`t ` an alleged threat by Hamas` 10:20  |  Assad-u-LLAH 09/02/08
      34.   Assad...Not to be rude, but you are the one 15:16  |  Lynn 09/02/08
      35.   Talk to the Leader of a Civil Society 16:28  |  St. Paul 09/02/08
      36.   Israel must invade Gaza or lose the war 18:47  |  B (The other one) 09/02/08
      37.   Load of crock 18:56  |  Ofer 09/02/08
      38.   Bombs and bullets, not sound bites, are the answer to hamas 19:00  |  bernard ross 09/02/08
      39.   Humane proposal:Down with Hamas, Up with Palestinians 19:01  |  st. helen 09/02/08
      40.   hamascide wishes! 19:05  |  dav zee 09/02/08
      41.   Ghandi`s Way 19:07  |  US Observer 09/02/08
      42.   Dear Kader in USA, who was forced out? 19:19  |  Joe Sittizen 09/02/08
      43.   Assad-u-LLAH 19:24  |  Yaakov 09/02/08
      44.   The vile siege was breached at Rafah by the heroic people of Gaza 19:24  |  lakshmi 09/02/08
      45.   Assad-u-LLAH 19:33  |  Yaakov 09/02/08
      46.   The only thing Hamas knows is terror - now, their target is Egypt 19:37  |  Conroy 09/02/08
      47.   #39 economic injustice 19:48  |  Not in my name 09/02/08
      48.   #1 frenz 19:52  |  Boycott 09/02/08
      49.   great idea... 19:55  |  ravi 09/02/08
      50.   #5 Malka Ziv 19:55  |  Boycott 09/02/08
      51.   # 21, and to think Pal women blow themselves up to hand this law 19:56  |  down to their daught 09/02/08
      52.   #35 19:58  |  Boycott 09/02/08
      53.   pals should `invade` their lands. it`s important 20:19  |  bozhidar bob balkas 09/02/08
      54.   HAARETZ HAS PROVEN ME CORRECT: THE LEFT HAS MURDERED ISRAELI 20:24  |  WARRIOR 09/02/08
      55.   No Invasion-Let Them Wallow 20:24  |  dyinglikeflies 09/02/08
      56.   Shoot to kill 20:26  |  Michael 09/02/08
      57.   A serious problem looms 20:27  |  K 09/02/08
      58.   You welcome...bring the camels 20:37  |  Tosefta, the General 09/02/08
      59.   Thanks Assad for Hamas english website link 20:42  |  Aphemia 09/02/08
      60.   Arrest AG MAzuz before he prevents IDF from responding to pals f 20:47  |  Absolute Sweden 09/02/08
      61.   #33; Assad, LIes and the lying liars who tell them. 20:47  |  Doc Holliday 09/02/08
      62.   st. helen`s pompous papist pontifications... 20:53  |  akiva (zionist) 09/02/08
      63.   re #1 `egypt, israel should work together to snuff hamas` 20:57  |  Colin Wright 09/02/08
      64.   Arrest Olmert and Gangs for Empowering Terror PLO-PA 21:20  |  Joseph . E 09/02/08
      65.   Any policy? 21:21  |  Oddvark 09/02/08
      66.   International law Requires States To Take Measures To Bring 21:25  |  Joseph . E 09/02/08
      67.   Please do 21:37  |  Allon 09/02/08
      68.   Time to attack the Gaza Reservation & Terrorist Preserve 21:49  |  Kipperraes 09/02/08
      69.   As with Chamberlain, Olmert must be forced to resign! 21:51  |  redmike 09/02/08