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Stranded pilgrims return to Gaza
02/01/2008 21:12 - (SA)
Rafah - Egypt allowed more than 2 000 Palestinian pilgrims stranded for five days along the border to enter the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, drawing a fierce rebuke from Israel, which had tried to prevent top members of the militant Islamic Hamas from returning home.
Egypt's decision to open its border deepened a crisis in relations with Israel. Security officials in Israel said they expressed "deep rage" to Egypt and accused Cairo of reneging on recent pledges to keep the border sealed.
The pilgrims left Gaza last month to make a religious pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. They became trapped in Egypt on their way home last Saturday when the Egyptian government - apparently at Israel's request - said they would have to cross through Israel, instead of going directly into Gaza through Rafah.
At least 10 senior Hamas members, including former deputy Parliament speaker Ahmed Bahar, were among the returning pilgrims. Israel was concerned they were carrying large sums of money for Gaza's Hamas rulers, who have been under an Israeli blockade since seizing power last June.
Israel considers the Islamic militant Hamas, which is committed to its destruction, a terrorist group.
Refusing to enter Israel, the pilgrims were trapped in Egypt. They staged violent protests and set fire to desert camps where they were held.
Return celebrated
As they poured into Gaza, on Wednesday, dozens of Hamas dignitaries and green-vested Hamas workers greeted the pilgrims
"Thank God we made it," said Samiha Qeshta, 59, an exhausted-looking pilgrim. "Our patience led us to results."
Late on Wednesday, thousands of Palestinians rallied in the southern towns of Rafah and Khan Younis to celebrate the return of the pilgrims. Many held Egyptian flags.
In a televised address, Ismail Haniyeh, prime minister of the Hamas government, thanked Egypt and congratulated his people for returning "without being subject to harm or extortion from the Israeli occupation."
An Egyptian official said on Wednesday that Israel had been "informed" of the Egyptian decision to let the pilgrims back.
But Israeli defence officials said Israel did not approve their return, and that Egypt's decision "contradicted understandings" reached in a meeting last week between Israel's defence minister, Ehud Barak, and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
Israel has "conveyed its deep fury to the Egyptians," the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters.
Israel and Egypt signed a peace deal - Israel's first with an Arab country - in 1979. But relations have often been chilly.
Friction has been rising recently because of Israeli concerns that Egypt isn't doing enough to stop Palestinian smuggling of weapons and contraband into Gaza through tunnels under the border.
Arms smuggling
Last week, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Egypt was doing a "terrible" job policing the border, and Israel sent to Washington what it said was a videotape of Egyptian soldiers allowing Palestinian arms smuggling.
Egypt criticised and belittled Livni and accused Israel of trying to persuade the US government to cut aid to Egypt.
On Monday, Egypt's foreign minister said his government would "retaliate" diplomatically.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, apparently trying to contain the damage, said in a published interview Tuesday that he valued Egypt's friendship and prays for Mubarak's health.
Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki said the decision on the pilgrims was not retaliation, insisting it was a humanitarian matter.
The standoff was sensitive for the Egyptian government, which is deeply worried about being seen in the Arab world as worsening Palestinians' hardship in Gaza.
Israel has sealed Gaza since the Hamas takeover, deepening economic hardship in an already impoverished area.
Moreover, the situation threatened to deteriorate into Palestinian protests in the Sinai.
Any use of force by Egypt would likely spark widespread anger among its own population and other Arabs - even more so because the Palestinians are Muslim pilgrims, who are supposed to be allowed to travel as freely as possible.
Egypt had agreed to open Rafah last month on a one-time basis because the travellers were religious pilgrims.
Both Egyptian and Hamas officials said about 2 150 people returned to Gaza on Wednesday.
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