Officials say border to return to normal
RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) _ Egyptian border guards wielding clubs and electric prods directed throngs of Palestinians as they crossed into Egypt for a second day Thursday, but made little attempt to block the flow from Gaza.
Still, Egyptian officials warned the Gazans’ brief bliss of freedom, shopping and visiting relatives will soon come to an end with the resealing of the border.
In what looked like a first step toward restoring a border, Egyptian security forces turned back Palestinians who attempted to travel deeper into Egypt.
Dozens of Hamas militants dressed in black stood on the Gaza side of the border, in front of the fallen wall, checking people’s bags and packages for weapons, drugs and other prohibited items as they re-entered Gaza.
As the presence of Egyptian and Hamas security forces grew, so did the crowds, as Gazans sought to stock up on basic supplies before Egypt made good on its word to reseal the frontier.
By all accounts, this week’s breaching of the Gaza-Egypt border has provided a significant popularity boost to Gaza’s Hamas rulers, who can claim they successfully broke through the internationally supported Israeli closure that has deprived the coastal strip of normal trade and commerce for nearly two years.
“Hamas has won the strategic battle,” said Abu Ali, a 45-year-old Gazan dressed in a business suit, who was on the Egyptian side to buy materials for his construction company.
“Ask anyone here how they reached this place, and they will tell you it was because of Hamas.”
Both Egypt and Israel restricted the movement of people and goods in and out of Gaza after Hamas won parliament elections in 2006, and further tightened the closure after Hamas seized control of the area by force last June.
Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai said Israel gradually wants to relinquish responsibility for Gaza, now that the territory’s border with Egypt has been blown open.
Egypt angrily rejected the Israeli ideas and said it would not change border arrangements.
“The border will go back as normal,” said Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki. “The current situation is only an exception and for temporary reasons.”
Egypt has not yet indicated how it plans to reseal the border, though it began positioning armored vehicles Thursday along sections of the breached, seven-mile frontier.
In a previous major breach, after the Israeli pullout from Gaza in 2005, Egypt closed the border after four days. Gazans were issued a deadline for returning home, and Egyptian troops searched for, detained and fined stragglers who were then sent to their side of the border.
This time, however, Palestinian militants destroyed the major border wall, which might slow Egyptian efforts to seal the frontier. Egypt would presumably need Hamas’ cooperation in securing the border, but Hamas official Salah Bardawil told the AP on Thursday that the torn-down wall need not be replaced. Instead, he said, Egypt should reinforce a smaller border fence that already exists on its side.
However, Egypt would likely be reluctant to have an open border with a territory ruled by Islamic militants – despite the fact that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has been under intense public pressure at home in recent days to alleviate the suffering of Gazans under blockade.
