Subscribe to Print Edition | Sat., April 26, 2008 Nisan 21, 5768 | | Israel Time: 22:24 (EST+7) web haaretz.com   Back to Homepage Rosner's Domain Diplomacy Defense Jewish World Opinion National Print Edition Advertising Books Arts & Leisure Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File

Hamas supporters gathering near the destroyed wall on the Gaza-Egypt border during a protest Friday calling for the end of a blockade on the Strip. (AP) Last update - 08:14 26/04/2008 7,000 Hamas supporters rally at Gaza north, south borders By News Agencies Tags: Hamas, Israel, Gaza, Egypt Thousands of Hamas supporters gathered Friday near Gaza's northern border with Israel and its southern border with Egypt, where they called for an end to the blockade imposed on the territory. About 5,000 Hamas backers assembled Friday several hundred meters from the Erez border crossing into Israel. Another 2,000 gathered at the Rafah crossing with Egypt. Egypt sent hundreds of police officers to the sealed Rafah crossing to boost security and prevent any attempt by Palestinians to breach the frontier, security sources said. Advertisement "The strengthening of security comes as a precautionary measure to prevent any operation by the Palestinian side to storm Egyptian territory," one of the sources said, speaking on customary condition of anonymity. "Hundreds of policemen concentrated in Rafah and some armored vehicles were sent to inside the Rafah crossing and in front of its gate," the source added. Gaza militants blasted open the border with Egypt in January in a move that allowed hundreds of thousands of Gazans to stream across the frontier at Rafah to stock up on food and fuel for 10 days before the frontier was resealed. Egypt wants to prevent a repeat of that incident. Security sources put the number of police sent to the crossing on Friday at between 300 to 400, and identified them as officers already in Rafah who had been on standby to go to the border. The sources said there was no specific threat to the frontier. The move came as Israel dismissed a proposal by Palestinian militant group Hamas for a six-month Gaza truce during which an embargo on the territory would be lifted, saying that the Gaza Islamists wanted to prepare for more fighting rather than peace. The Hamas offer, issued on Thursday following talks with Egyptian mediators, departed from previous demands by the group that any ceasefire apply simultaneously in Hamas-run Gaza and the occupied West Bank. The Gaza Strip has been virtually sealed by Israel and Egypt since the violent Hamas takeover of the territory last June Bookmark to del.icio.us   Peer pressure Facing widespread pressure, Nadine Gordimer may pull out of Israel writers meet. My struggle German Jewish leader backs the publication of an annotated version of Hitler's Mein Kampf.   1.   Why the change of tactics 17:23  |  Mikey 25/04/08   2.   Difference between Gaza and Warsaw ghetto 17:28  |  Avrum 25/04/08   3.   It`s a shame that 18:09  |  Mark 25/04/08   4.   Small turnout suggests Hamas is fading 20:01  |  MARK KLEIN, M.D. 25/04/08   5.   What, no Haters.... yet? 20:54  |  Robert/Montreal 25/04/08   6.   Unpopular uprising 21:18  |  Realist 25/04/08   7.   Fatah begat Hamas, who begat... 21:33  |  Jimmy 25/04/08   8.   Jimmy and his begats 21:51  |  utagawa 25/04/08   9.   What 7000 Hamas Supporters, 22:25  |  Gil 25/04/08   10.   Was Nattalie Durson there? 22:52  |  Joe Sittizen 25/04/08   11.   US, jimmy carter, bill clinton DID support fatah under arafat 23:23  |  Avram 25/04/08   12.   Hamas - Pathetic Turnout 00:00  |  Reid 26/04/08   13.   Israel should have kept Sinai 00:14  |  Andrew 26/04/08   14.   Neither Israel nor Hamas seek peace 00:38  |  Egyptian 26/04/08   15.   A great opportunity to mow all of them down 00:40  |  Genuine Tosefta 26/04/08   16.   You are right Gil, but it is a pity that the rest are in hiding 00:42  |  Genuine Tosefta 26/04/08   17.   # 9 Gil, I guess hamas cant count either 01:00  |  Avram 26/04/08   18.   7000 is not many people, most are probably on payroll 01:39  |  Jos 26/04/08   19.   @2 Avrum, can you not be a little less bitter on Gazan`s? 01:43  |  Mark B. 26/04/08   20.   Avrum...look at it this way 01:54  |  Lynn 26/04/08   21.   # 14 Egyptian....yes, and much more then that 01:58  |  Lynn 26/04/08   22.   @13 Andrew go bargain with ur own land that if u r not occupier 02:06  |  Egyptian 26/04/08   23.   #2 Nice and plump 02:36  |  Denise 26/04/08   24.   #8 Jimmy is correct 02:41  |  Denise 26/04/08   25.   heroes 03:50  |  Shmuelshachor 26/04/08   26.   #8 utagawa - I agree... 04:34  |  Jimmy 26/04/08   27.   Nothing to do, they celebrate even when they loose 05:11  |  Hamad 26/04/08   28.   To # 25 05:14  |  Hamad 26/04/08   29.   Peanut 05:18  |  Hamad 26/04/08   30.   What are they protesting about? 05:52  |  Magnify 26/04/08   31.   What is the solution if occupation doesn`t work? 10:14  |  mark 26/04/08   32.   re #4 `Small turnout suggests Hamas is fading.` 12:24  |  Colin Wright 26/04/08   33.   For all the Bravado!!! 14:37  |  Buzaglow 26/04/08   34.   Buzaglow have you read about the daughter 16:11  |  MaryRose 26/04/08   35.   Reid #12 16:25  |  MaryRose 26/04/08   36.   who counted the supporters? 18:27  |  x-ray 26/04/08   37.   Colin Wright`s Need for Invention 18:28  |  Tex 26/04/08   38.   Hope they had good weather for their picnic! 20:10  |  Voice of Reason 26/04/08   39.   Tex! excellent skew! 21:05  |  Akiva P 26/04/08

Read & React Israeli envoy to UN calls Carter 'a bigot' for meeting Meshal Responses: 272 Israel: Syria may rethink retaliation in light of nuclear revelations Responses: 223 Israel snubs Hamas truce bid as ruse to recover from fighting Responses: 200 Two Israeli guards killed in West Bank shooting; third flees Responses: 110 Yossi Sarid: If it runs like apartheid and acts like apartheid... Responses: 224 Rosner's Domain Syria insists on a return to the pre-1967 lines (WTR) Poll: Will the new spy case harm U.S.-Israel ties? Notes on the new Israeli-espionage affair The real numbers of the Jewish vote in Pennsylvania More Headlines 21:57 IDF soldiers catch two infiltrators from Gaza 21:40 Turkish PM confirms mediation efforts for Syria-Israel peace 21:42 Meshal: Hamas awaits Israeli response to Egyptian truce proposal 09:59 Palestinians: 14-year-old girl killed in Gaza clashes 21:04 Syrian envoy to U.S.: Photos of alleged nuke site fabricated by CIA 21:19 Muslim Brotherhood denies aiding Hamas in developing drones 21:59 Commander of legendary Jewish immigrant ship Exodus dies at 90 13:46 Druze hold protest against construction projects in North 22:08 Former Sephardi chief rabbi Eliyahu suffers heart attack 19:07 Bedouin woman loses hand while handling dud bomb in Negev 14:53 Teenager stabbed to death outside Rishon Letzion nightclub 07:30 Abbas: I failed in U.S., no progress in peace talks 09:18 Facing widespread pressure, Nadine Gordimer may pull out of Israel writers meet 10:33 IAEA slams Israel for bombing alleged nuclear reactor in Syria Previous Editions Select Day 25 apr 24 apr 23 apr 22 apr 21 apr 20 apr 18 apr 17 apr 16 apr 15 apr 14 apr 13 apr

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