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Palestinians set fire to building
05/02/2008 14:22 - (SA)
Cairo - Hundreds of Palestinians furious at being rounded up by Egyptian authorities after deadly clashes at the border with Gaza set fire to a government building, says a security source.
"Egyptian authorities rounded up at least 500 Palestinians in the town of Rafah late on Monday and took them to an administrative building," after a Palestinian was shot dead in the border violence, the source said.
"They set fire to the building, broke windows and destroyed furniture," the source said, adding that the Palestinians would be allowed back into Gaza "once the arrangements are made".
Another 1 500 Palestinians who lived in other Arab countries and who needed visas to leave Egypt had been taken to a youth hostel in Al-Arish, west of Rafah, until their papers are ready, the source said.
The closure of the border, breached almost two weeks ago to allow Palestinians into Egypt to stock up on vital goods, sparked protests from the Palestinians, with a demonstration at the border turning violent late on Monday with stone-throwing, exchanges of fire and teargas.
Gaza militants blew open the border between the impoverished coastal strip and Egypt early on January 23 in a bid to break a punishing Israeli blockade.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were estimated to have poured through the breached frontier before Egyptian and Hamas forces resealed it completely at the weekend.
- AFP
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