Israel Matzav

Egypt shuts Gaza border indefinitely, world silent

Egypt has indefinitely shut the Rafah border crossing that provides the only exit from the strip for Gazans, stranding 'hundreds' of Gazans on the other side in the process. Of course, since it's not Israel that's doing this, the world is silent.

The move could mark a dramatic escalation in the closures faced by Gaza’s residents. Rafah is the Gaza Strip’s only exit point not controlled by Israel, which has imposed a blockade on its own border with Gaza in an effort to curtail arms smuggling by the territory’s Hamas rulers.

Egyptian authorities have closed the border crossing intermittently since the military deposed president Mohammed Morsi on July 3. It was closed last week over the Eid al-Fitr holiday, and the terminal’s operating hours have been sharply curtailed since July, when they were shortened from nine hours a day to just four. According to Egyptian officials, the restrictions led to a drop in the number of people crossing each day from about 1,200 to just 150.

Egyptian forces have also worked to shut down the large network of smuggling tunnels between the Strip and Sinai, leading to severe shortages inside the Palestinian territory, according to Gazans and UN officials.

Thousands of workers in Gaza have also been laid off over the past month due to the closures, while some of the tens of thousands of Palestinians studying and working in Egypt are keeping a low profile for fear being targeted in an anti-Hamas backlash. Hamas is an affiliate and ally of the Muslim Brotherhood and has been vocal in its criticism of Morsi’s overthrow.

The latest closure, which is not time-limited, has left hundreds of Palestinians stranded on either side of the crossing, according to AFP.

The Egyptian move comes as part of the military’s efforts to curtail violence and terror attacks in the Sinai Peninsula, which spiked in the wake of Morsi’s ouster, with authorities in Cairo saying that many of the fighters in the peninsula came from Gaza.

Boo. Hoo. Maybe Egypt will consider retaking the Strip and throwing Hamas out. Given that Israel is no longer in Gaza, Egyptian rule looks like a better alternative than Hamas.

Labels: Egyptian apartheid wall, Gaza, Gaza blockade, Gaza plenty, Gaza-Egypt border, Rafah

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:21 AM