Palestinian woman dies at Rafah Crossing, 5,000 Still Stranded Because of Israeli Closure 

Palestinian woman dies at Rafah Crossing

Date: 01 / 07 / 2007 Time: 14:53

Gaza – Ma'an – 

A Palestinian woman from Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, died at Rafah Crossing on Sunday after a severe deterioration in her health.

Taghreed Muhammad 'Aabed, aged 31, a mother of five, had traveled to Egypt for urgent medical treatment for cancer.

When she attempted to return to Gaza, through the Rafah crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, she was detained along with 5,000 other Palestinians.

The stranded citizens of Gaza have spent the past twenty days suffering in extreme heat due to the Israeli closure of the crossing.

The European monitors at the crossing left in response to the dangers posed by the violent conflict in the Gaza Strip. Once the crossing fell under full Israeli control it was closed.

'Aabed's family have urged all concerned parties to reopen the crossing so that they can bury Taghreed in her home town.

200-strong security force is deployed on Egypt-Gaza border to enable the safe return of stranded Palestinians 

Date: 01 / 07 / 2007 Time: 11:21

Gaza - Ma'an – 

In response to a directive from the (Hamas) government, 200 members of the Palestinian security forces were deployed on the border between Egypt and Gaza on Sunday morning.

Captain of the security forces, Ibrahim Abu Al Haija, said 200 force members, along with Hamas volunteers, wish to enact their "national mission". He said their national mission is to secure the borders.

The spokesperson of Hamas, Fawzi Barhoum, issued a statement saying "the former national government and Hamas movement work hard to reopen Rafah Crossing in order to enable Palestinians, trapped on the Egyptian side, to return home".

Barhoum added "the Palestinians will endeavor to secure the Palestinian path on the Egyptian-Gazan border, while the Egyptians will try to secure the same path on the Egyptian side."

Agha charges certain parties with hampering re-opening of Rafah terminal

[ 30/06/2007 - 08:41 AM ]

GAZA, (PIC)-- 

Dr. Mohammed Al-Agha, the agriculture minister in the PA caretaker government, has asserted that certain parties, which he did not name, were hampering the re-opening of the Rafah terminal.

Agha in a press release said that premier Ismail Haneyya was holding semi-daily meetings with his cabinet to discuss the issue, and noted that the number of Palestinians trapped at the Egyptian side of the borders had reached 6,000.

He underlined that the stranded Palestinians were staying at the border with no shelter in the absence of world concern towards their suffering.

The minister underlined that intensified contacts were made with Egyptian officials to end the problem the soonest.

For his part, Dr. Younis Al-Astal, a PLC member, said in a similar press statement that he appreciated the role of Egypt and never voiced threats against Cairo over the issue of the terminal.

The MP said that the media misquoted him during his Khutba (sermon) at a Friday congregation in Khan Younis and claimed that he called on the Palestinians to target the crossing.

Astal explained that he spoke about the suffering of those thousands of abandoned Palestinians, and urged Palestinian factions to exploit their relations with Egypt to end this ordeal.

 

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