Cancer patient dies while stranded at Rafah, Israeli occupation government still prevents  6,000 Palestinians from return home 

Cancer patient dies while stranded at Rafah; Erekat denies reports that Abbas wishes crossing to remain closed

Date: 18 / 07 / 2007 Time: 10:20

Rafah Crossing [Ma'anImages] Gaza - Ma'an - 

A Palestinian woman who suffered from cancer died late Tuesday night while stranded at Rafah border crossing, Egyptian medical sources reported. The woman was identified as Sanaa Ahmad Shannan, 27, a resident of Jabalia refugee camp in the Gaza Strip and the mother of two children.

Separately, according to the Israeli daily Ha'aretz, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas asked Israel to keep Rafah crossing closed on the grounds that opening it would enable Hamas to move their activists into Gaza unsupervised. Dr Sa'eb Erekat, chief Palestinian negotiator has today denied this report, stating that the PA have requested the opening of the Rafah crossing "on numerous occasions."

Sanaa had recently returned from Cairo where she received medical treatment, but her health deteriorated while waiting at the crossing. Palestinian sources said that Sanaa had been in Egypt since Israel closed the Egyptian-Palestinian border crossing in Early June, and not able to return to the Strip.

The death toll of Palestinians stranded at Rafah now stands at 29 since the closure of the crossing in the first week of June.

While Hamas and other Palestinian groups have demanded the crossing opened, it is reported that the Israeli authorities would prefer to have the Israeli-supervised Karm Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing opened. Hamas has argued that use of Karm Abu Salem would infringe on Palestinian sovereignty.

(About 6,000 Palestinians have been stranded on the Egyptian side of the border with Palestine at Rafah because of Israeli orders to close the terminal).

Hebrew paper: Abbas urged Egypt, Israel to keep Rafah terminal sealed off

[ 18/07/2007 - 11:11 AM ]

NAZARETH, (PIC)--

The Hebrew daily Ha'aretz newspaper has unveiled Wednesday that PA chief Mahmoud Abbas had urged both Egypt and the Israeli occupation government to keep the Rafah terminal closed.

The paper’s revelation of Abbas’s request came at a time thousands of Palestinian citizens from Gaza Strip, including children, women, and sick people are stranded at the Egyptian side of the terminal in tragic conditions.

According to the paper, Abbas’s request to Egypt and Israel came after Hamas Movement took control of the Gaza Strip, and he urged both states to deal with the request with confidentiality.

It added that Abbas also called on both states to shift the crossing point from Rafah to the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing point, southeastern Gaza Strip.

Egyptian officials are divided over the issue as Egypt’s chief intelligence Omar Suleiman reportedly favors the opening of the Rafah terminal and supports dealing with Hamas, but Egypt’s embassy in the Hebrew state was reportedly opposing Suleiman's views, the paper further added.

On Tuesday a 27-year-old cancer-stricken Palestinian lady died at the crossing point bringing number of perished Palestinian citizens at the terminal to 30 since the crisis started 40 days ago, hospital sources in the Egyptian city of Rafah affirmed. The victim was identified as Thana’a Shalha.

Another Palestinian lady stranded at the terminal gave birth to a baby-girl Tuesday amidst persisting calls from the beleaguered Palestinian citizens to end their ordeal.

Part of Abbas’s men wrongdoings at Rafah revealed: For his part, prime minister of the legitimate PA caretaker government Ismail Haneyya unveiled serious documents seized by Hamas’s fighters from headquarters of the routed PA security apparatuses affirming that the PA presidential guards under Abbas’s direct command were involved in money laundering and smuggling gold out of the Strip in a bid to hit the Palestinian national economy.

Haneyya’s revelation of the document came during a meeting with Palestinian political and economy experts where he also expressed his government’s approval for the private sector to administer the Rafah terminal.

“We are amenable to handing over the administration of the crossing point to a clean and honest party in coordination with the concerned PA ministries”, Haneyya pointed out.

But he stressed that his government will not allow the return of the Gaza Strip to the era of corruption and embezzlement of the people’s money.

 

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