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'Hamas won't stand in our way'
02/02/2008 19:37 - (SA)
Rafah - Egypt has decided to close its breached border with Gaza on Sunday, and Hamas will not stand in the way, a Hamas leader said on Saturday, after holding talks with Egyptian officials.
At the same time, Egypt has agreed to coordinate with Hamas on some border issues and to enable thousands of Palestinians stuck in Egypt to head to third countries for which they have visas or residency permits, Gaza's Hamas strongman, Mahmoud Zahar, said after returning to Gaza from Cairo.
Egyptian officials were not available for comment on the Hamas claims. It was unclear whether the border would be sealed hermetically, as it was before Hamas blew up sections of the border wall on January 23, ending a seven-month blockade by Israel and Egypt. It also wasn't clear to what extent, if at all, Hamas' demand to be given a say in running the Egypt-Gaza border was being considered.
Zahar was greeted n Saturday by supporters at the border. Since the breach, hundreds of thousands of Gazans have flooded Egypt's border area and Hamas has thwarted repeated attempts by Egypt to reseal the border.
Zahar said Egyptian officials told him they would restore order at the border. "Egypt's message was very clear, that Sunday should be the day to put an end to this scene," Zahar told the Arab satellite TV station Al Jazeera.
Hamas breached border
At the border, Zahar said gunmen would not be allowed to bring weapons close to the border, or use "bad words or violence" towards Egyptian police.
The Hamas leader, widely seen as the mastermind of Hamas' violent takeover of Gaza in June, said Hamas would cooperate with Egypt in its efforts.
It remained unclear to what degree Egypt has agreed to coordinate border issues with Hamas.
At the closed Rafah border crossing, around 600 women loyal to Hamas protested to demand its opening. The women, many wearing black robes and headcoverings, held up green Hamas flags and chanted on the Palestinian side of the crossing.
Some of the women said the gaps in the border - created by Hamas militants - had not resolved pressing issues created by Gaza's closure to the outside world. "The sick still need to travel, we need cement," said Naima Diab, a 55-year-old Hamas loyalist wearing a black robe with a white headscarf, sitting on a nearby rock.
Hamas breached the border several days after Israel had imposed a complete blockade on Gaza, with Egyptian backing, in response to a rocket barrage from Gaza on Israeli border towns. For the past seven months, since Hamas' takeover of Gaza, Israel and Egypt have severely restricted access to the territory.
AP reporter Ibrahim Barzak contributed to this report from Gaza City, Gaza Strip.
- SAPA
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