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1.5m trapped behind border
04/02/2008 14:41 - (SA)
Gaza City - Gaza's 1.5 million Palestinians were trapped behind closed borders again on Monday, ending 12 days of freedom, after Egyptian forces sealed the last of the breaks in the Gaza-Egypt barrier broken down by Hamas militants.
With metal spikes and barbed wire put in place on Sunday, attention turned to how the border crossing would be run, and it appeared unlikely that the Islamic Hamas rulers of Gaza would get what they want - a role for them but none for Israel.
Egypt warned Hamas against trying to open the border by force again, as it did on January 23.
"Egypt is a respected state. Its border cannot be breached and its soldiers should not be lobbed with stones," said Suleiman Awwad, spokesperson for Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
Even after the closure, Egyptians and Gazans who found themselves on the wrong side of the border were allowed across.
Among those returning from Egypt on Monday were Gazans who had hoped to use Egypt as a transit point for other countries, but were denied transit visas by Egypt.
Some claimed they were randomly denied passage.
Suspicious travellers
Munzer Masri, 26, said he had hoped to travel to Dubai for a knee operation, accompanied by his mother and sister, but was sent back to Gaza even though his visa for Dubai is valid until February 28.
His mother and sister were told to continue on to Dubai, even though their only purpose had been to accompany him during the treatment. "They (the Egyptian authorities) wouldn't even let them come back with me to Gaza," Masri said.
Egyptian security officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the names of all transit passengers had been checked, and that some were sent back to Gaza after raising suspicion.
Hundreds of Gazans, waiting for their visas in the border town of El Arish, did receive their transit stamps, travellers said.
The border breach had temporarily relieved a seven-month blockade, imposed by Israel and Egypt after Hamas seized Gaza by force in June.
The opening briefly boosted the popularity of Hamas, as hundreds of thousands of blockade-weary Gazans rushed to Egypt's border region, stocking up on supplies from dishwashing liquid to yeast, cigarettes, mattresses and cement.
'The same problems'
The resealing of the border on Sunday, with Hamas' co-operation, abruptly ended the Gazans' relief.
"We're back to the same siege and the same problems," said Alaa al-Astal, 33, a security guard at a Gaza university.
Israeli security officials said dozens of Palestinian militants who were trained in Iran, along with rockets and other weapons, crossed into Gaza from Egypt in the past few days.
Shin-Bet security chief Yuval Diskin told Israel's Cabinet on Sunday that "long-range rockets, anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles were brought into Gaza", according to a participant who spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting was closed.
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