Hamas furious at Egyptian apartheid buffer zone in Rafah
Hamas is furious because Egypt is creating a
buffer zone in Rafah between itself and Gaza, which will make smuggling tunnels much harder to dig and operate.
Ehab Ghissin, spokesman for the Hamas government, said that there
should be no buffer zones “between brothers and friendly
countries.”
Ghissin expressed hope that the Egyptian move would not
“solidify the blockade” and increase the suffering of the people in the Gaza
Strip.
He called for establishing a free trade area instead of a buffer
zone along the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.
Egyptian
newspapers quoted Palestinian sources as saying that 90 percent of the smuggling
tunnels along the border with the Gaza Strip have stopped functioning as a
result of Egypt’s security measures.
The sources said that the Egyptian
army was waging an “unprecedented” campaign to destroy houses and
tunnels.
According to the sources, the planned buffer zone would be
between 25 and 500 meters wide and 10 kilometers long.
Meanwhile, dozens
of Egyptian families demonstrated on the Egyptian side of the border in protest
against the demolition of their homes by the army.
The protesters said
that the Egyptian army has notified many families living close to the border
with the Gaza Strip of its intention to demolish their homes as part of its
effort to create a buffer zone in the area.
That's what they get for allying themselves with the Muslim Brotherhood for the last two years. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Labels: Egypt, Egyptian apartheid wall, Gaza, Hamas, Rafah, smuggling tunnels
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
Hamas tries to cut a deal
Hamas has offered to close down all tunnels between Egypt and Gaza
if Egypt agrees to open the Rafah crossing point on a permanent basis.
On Saturday, the Palestinian Authority called on Cairo to destroy the tunnels, saying they posed a threat to Egyptian security and damaged chances of achieving Palestinian unity.
Bardaweel said that a “civilized alternative” to the tunnels would be the opening of the Rafah terminal to goods and passengers.
“We are confident that the Egyptian leadership would work toward creating this alternative and we hope that the border crossing would not be closed for too long,” Bardaweel added.
Well, Egypt might agree to opening the tunnels, but given all the trouble they have had in Sinai, I have my doubts whether they would be willing to allow the unrestricted flow of weapons through the crossing point.
What could go wrong?
Labels: Egyptian apartheid wall, Gaza blockade, Gaza plenty, Rafah
Egypt opens Rafah crossing
Shavua tov, a good week to everyone.
Remember
the last time that Egypt
opened its border for all those poor 'starving' Gazans?
Well, this time, the Egyptians are being much more careful about what kind of pictures are being released. No more riots at the border. Instead, we are seeing pictures of nice quiet people
sitting on a bus (Hat Tip:
Memeorandum).
Hundreds of Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip arrived here by the busload on Saturday to pass through the reopened border into Egypt, taking the first tangible steps out of a four-year Israeli blockade.
Can someone please explain to me if this is an 'Israeli blockade,' how can the Egyptians be the ones releasing it? Maybe it was also an Egyptian blockade....
“I feel this is the start of freedom,” said Hasna el-Ryes, 45, a Gaza resident waiting to cross into Egypt so she could travel to visit sons studying in Britain. “You can’t imagine how much we have suffered.”
Maybe she won't come back. Maybe a lot of other Gazans won't come back. Wouldn't that be cool? Of course, there is a major down side:
Israel issued no statements on Saturday in response to the border opening, but its officials have made clear that they consider the looser controls a major security risk. It began its blockade of Gaza four years ago to keep Hamas, which consolidated control in Gaza after winning elections, from being resupplied with rockets and other weapons to use against Israelis.
Actually, the blockade was originally to keep Hamas from moving Gilad Shalit out of Gaza, and then tightened when Hamas took power. But at least the Egyptians haven't opened the border completely - they're not total fools either.
And the formal, seven-days-a-week opening on Saturday did not remove all restrictions. It left in place a blockade on the shipment into Gaza of goods, including concrete that is badly needed to repair buildings damaged in clashes with Israel. “This is good, but we are looking for Egypt to break the siege, to allow the shipment of cement and trade,” said Gamal el-Din, a Palestinian engineer entering Egypt.
Egyptian officials have said they hope to soon open the border to at least some goods. There are still restrictions on passengers as well. Although women, children and older Palestinians can enter without a visa, men from 18 to 40 are required to obtain one, for security reasons.
And I'm sure you'll all be shocked to hear that a lot more people want to go to Egypt than want to go to Gaza.
While the terminal holding Egyptians entering Gaza remained almost empty for most of the day, a steady stream of Gazans kept flowing the other way. Aish el-Meleit, a 55-year-old farmer, said he had come for a chance to visit an ailing aunt in Egypt; he had missed the deaths and funerals of both his parents because of the blockade [Maybe he belongs in Egypt? CiJ].
By early afternoon, six buses, each carrying about 50 travelers, had dropped their passengers on [should be "from." CiJ] the Palestinian side, the police said. Only two people had been returned from the Egyptian side, compared with nearly 40 on a typical day last week.
Arutz Sheva
adds some more proof that the Egyptians are not complete fools (Hat Tip:
NY Nana):
With that, Egypt prevented 23 Gaza Arabs from entering Sinai, as they were on a “no-cross” list, prevented from entering Egypt because of their connections to criminal or terrorist groups.
Two medical teams were stationed at the crossing, one to examine Gaza Arabs who claim to be seeking medical treatment in Israel, and a second to examine others to ensure they are not carrying communicable diseases.
But they did violate the peace treaty with Israel by opening the crossing.
It should be noted that the opening of the Rafiah crossing is a violation of previous Egyptian agreements with Israel. According to the agreements, Egypt is supposed to consult with Israel on the opening of the Rafiah crossing, and European Union officials are supposed to be present to ensure that no weapons or materials that could be used to build bombs and missiles are brought from Sinai into Gaza. In addition, Israeli troops are supposed to be able to observe the activity at the crossing via closed-circuit TV. None of these elements were included in the Egyptian move. Speaking to reporters, Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said that Israel “will obviously be looking to preserve security arrangements at the border and hope nothing will be done to allow Hamas to empower itself and to reinforce its terrorist infrastructures. The Israeli position has been made known to all relevant authorities, including in Egypt.”
I'd bet on that flotilla showing up next month anyway.
What could go wrong?
Labels: Egyptian apartheid wall, Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty, flotilla, Gaza plenty
