Border reopens; Palestinians go home

Gaza-Egypt border in Rafah area opened for one day to enable hundreds of Palestinians and Egyptians stuck on wrong side of border to return home for Ramadan

AP and Ynet|Published: 10.04.05 , 10:36

The Rafah crossing opened Monday in order to enable Palestinians and Egyptians stuck on the wrong side of the border to cross back home for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Within the first two hours, more than 400 Palestinians and approximately 300 Egyptians crossed the border.

Simultaneously, young Palestinians held a demonstration in demand to permanently open the border crossing. One of the protesting children was permitted to cross to the Egyptian side of the border, where he handed a Palestinian flag to an Egyptian soldier as a gift.

The Egypt-Gaza border was breached shortly after the IDF's withdrawal from Gaza and had remained breached for the first week after the withdrawal. Since then, however, Palestinian and Egyptian security forces managed to regain control of the route and prevent illegal infiltrations. Consequently, hundreds of people were left without the ability to return to their homes.

The fear of a breaching of the Philadelphi route once the IDF leaves Gaza has been expressed by many observers, and the grim predictions were realized sooner than expected. According to estimations, thousands of Palestinians were able to cross the border.

MK Benjamin Netanyahu recently sounded the alarm about such breaches, saying that "The Philadelphi route has been breached, there is a great flow of weapons, including missiles."

Egyptian forces prepare to expel Palestinians

London-based Arabic-language newspaper al-Sharq al-Awsat reported 10 days ago that the Egyptian police began gathering the Palestinians who crossed the border from Gaza in preparation for their expulsion.

According to the report, approximately 1,500 Palestinians were gathered, while Egyptian forces work to identify 8,000 who are still in Egypt.

Egyptian security arms initiated a meeting with Palestinian security forces as well as with Palestinian Authority representatives, in order to discuss the situation along the border and the ways to secure it and prevent infiltrations from both sides.

Egyptian sources said that all the breaches in the border have been totally blocked and that Egyptian border guard forces have deployed along the border and have begun their mission to secure the border and prevent infiltrations and smugglings.