Human situation in Gaza reached an uncontrollable catastrophic level, Haniya calls on Egypt to open Rafah crossing

Hamas: Human situation in Gaza reached an uncontrollable catastrophic level

[ 03/07/2008 - 09:58 AM ]

GAZA, (PIC)--

The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, warned that the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip reached an uncontrollable catastrophic level, appealing to Egypt to necessarily find a formula enabling the opening of the Rafah crossing on a regular basis until agreeing on a mechanism to operate it permanently.

In a press statement, Dr. Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman, denied that the civilian scramble that took place Wednesday on the outskirts of the Rafah border crossing was intentional and attributed the incident to the suffocating and miserable living conditions in Gaza and to not implementing what was agreed upon in Cairo about the need for initiating talks to open the crossing.

Dr. Abu Zuhri held PA chief Mahmoud Abbas fully responsible for the suffering of the Gaza people because of his refusal of the formula reached in Cairo to open the Rafah crossing.

The spokesman also castigated Abbas for his statements to the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper in which he said that Hamas has to recognize the international conditions which calls for recognizing the Israeli occupation and ending the resistance before he can open national dialog with Hamas.

Haniya calls on Egypt to open the Rafah crossing once and for all

[ 03/07/2008 - 01:54 PM ]

GAZA, (PIC)--

The Palestinian Prime Minister, Ismail Haniya said on Thursday that what took place on Wednesday at the Rafah crossing was spontaneous and not planed, calling on Egypt to hasten the opening of the border crossing officially.

Haniya's comments were made during a speech to police officers at their headquarters in Gaza city where he stressed that frustration and the pressures of the siege were to blame for the people's attempt to storm the gates of the crossing.

Haniya stressed that the Rafah crossing should be officially opened once and for all after reaching an agreement between different parties concerned and called for accelerating the process so as not to keep the Palestinian people hostage to the siege and closure.

He said that these pressure cause some young people to get out of line and cause problems and added that the Egyptian brothers were informed of the keenness of the Palestinian government and people to protect the brotherly relations with Egypt which has been and will always be the strategic depth for the Palestinian people.

He also blamed behind the back arrangements which the Gaza government is not aware of that confuses matters at the Rafah crossing, calling on Egypt to directly coordinate with the Interior Ministry of the Gaza government to ensure the smooth operation of the crossing and prevent problems.

On Wednesday, hundreds of stranded passengers tried to break into the Egyptian side of the crossing out of frustration as only very limited numbers of passengers have been allowed through.

Some stranded students lost the academic year, some lost their work abroad and many patients lost their life due to travel restrictions.

Egypt will "respond strongly" to any Gaza border breach

Date: 03 / 07 / 2008 Time: 11:49
Bethlehem - Ma'an -

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Abu Al-Ghait on Thursday described Wednesday's storming of the Rafah crossing by thousands of angry Palestinians as "a ridiculous and irresponsible attempt to destroy the borders between Egypt and the Gaza Strip."

Seven thousand Palestinians stormed the Rafah crossing on Wednesday and were pushed back by Egyptian security. Egypt had promised to open the crossing, in response to an appeal from Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas on his recent visit to the country. The crossing was to be opened to let approximately two hundred Palestinians stranded in Egypt back into Gaza but many more attempted to cross.

"We will not accept any breach of the Egyptian territories. We will not accept a forced breakthrough into Egyptian territory," Al-Ghait said, adding, "Palestinians are dear brothers who we allow to cross according to their needs and we’ll keep on doing this."

An Egyptian security source confirmed that Egypt will "respond strongly" to any further attempts to storm its borders with the Gaza Strip, adding that Wednesday's events were "a violation of the agreement between Egypt and Palestinians."

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