Palestinians Tear Down Israeli Occupation Wall in Rafah, Cross the Border into Egypt

Palestinians pour into Egypt after Rafah border wall destroyed

Date: 23 / 01 / 2008 Time: 10:10

Gaza – Ma'an –

Tens of thousands of Palestinians crossed the border into Egypt on Wednesday after masked Palestinian fighters destroyed a portion of the border wall between Egypt and the Gaza Strip using explosives.

Egyptian security forces stood by and did not confront the Palestinians.

Most of the Gaza Strip's 1.5 million residents have been trapped inside the Gaza Strip since Israel closed the Gaza Strip's border crossings in June.

Ma'an's reporter said that the Gazans began stocking up on supplies from Egyptian stores in the town of Al-Arish. Some bought cement at 27 Egyptian pounds per sack. A sack of the same size costs 150 NIS, or more than five times the price in Egypt. At times, even the cement needed to make tombs for the dead has been scarce in the Gaza Strip.

Gazan merchants sent trucks to import medicine and other goods.

Gazans also bought clothes which have become scarce in Gaza's markets after eight months of Israeli-imposed siege.

A sudden influx of tobacco from Egypt resulted in a drop in the price of a pack of cigarettes. From 20 NIS down to 10 NIS.

Palestinians stranded on the Egyptian side of the border for weeks or months streamed back into the Gaza Strip, having found a sudden solution to their plight.

On Tuesday, dozens were injured when Egyptian riot police blocked a surging crowd of Palestinian women from rushing through the Rafah border crossing into Egypt.

Food, medicine, fuel, and other basic necessities had grown scare in the Gaza Strip after months of sanctions and a total blockade that began on Friday.

It is still not known who is responsible for opening the border. On Monday, the Popular Resistance Committees vowed to use force to open Rafah crossing.

***Updated at 14:25 local time

Barak: Egypt can provide humanitarian needs of Gaza
Date: 23 / 01 / 2008 Time: 20:50

(MaanImages)
Bethlehem – Ma'an –

Israeli occupation government defence minister, Ehud Barak, said on Wednesday that Egypt can provide for the humanitarian needs of the people of the Gaza Strip from now on.

Barak was speaking in Paris, following a meeting with French President Nicholas Sarkozy.

His comments came after tens of thousands of Palestinians broke through the border wall separating the Gaza Strip and Egypt and bought supplies of food and fuel, before returning home.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said on Wednesday that he gave orders to the security forces to allow the entry of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.

"I told them to let them enter and buy food and return as long as they were not carrying weapons," Mubarak told reporters in Cairo.

The de facto government in the Gaza Strip expressed its willingness to sit down immediately with the Egyptian leadership to discuss arrangements for the operation of the Rafah crossing, saying they were ready to assume management of the crossing.

Gazans injured in latest spate of Israeli violence to be treated in Cairo

Date: 23 / 01 / 2008 Time: 20:18

Cairo – Ma'an -

Egyptian Health Minister Hatem Al-Jabali announced on Wednesday that it has been decided to treat some of the Palestinians, who were injured in the recent spate of Israeli incursions, in the Nasser Institute in Egypt.

The minister said in a statement that the treatment would be free of charge and carried out in coordination with the Egyptian Foreign Ministry.

This latest decision is part of the ongoing efforts by Egypt to support the Palestinian people and alleviate their suffering.

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