Solana says EU observers ready to resume Rafah border mission (on behalf of Israel)

Solana says EU ready to resume Rafah border mission

Date: 27 / 02 / 2009 Time: 09:51
Gaza – Ma'an –

The EU is ready to resume its monitoring mission at the Rafah boder between Gaza and Egypt, foreign policy chief Javier Solana said on Friday morning during a visit to the Gaza Strip.

Solana said EU will participate in the operation of the crossing when they receive approval from all the relevant parties.

Speaking on arrival at the Erez border crossing in the north of the Strip, Solana also articulated EU support for the Palestinian reconciliation talks taking place in Egypt.

“We came to Gaza to express our solidarity with Gazans and to see what the recent Israeli war has caused in the Gaza Strip," he said.

Under a 2005 agreement with Egypt, Israel, and the Palestinian Authority, the EU sent observers to monitor the operation of the Rafah crossing under Egyptian-Palestinian control. The Border Assistance Mission has been suspended since Egypt and Israel decided to close the crossing in June 2007.

(In effect, the European observers replace the Israeli occupation forces and observe this Egyptian-Palestinian border crossing on behalf of the Israeli occupation government).

Solana's visit to the Gaza Strip is the first such visit since Hamas took full control of the territory in 2007. He is not scheduled to meet any representatives of the Hamas-run de facto government.

Gaza goods crossings closed

Date: 27 / 02 / 2009 Time: 10:47
Gaza – Ma’an –

The Israeli occupation government unexpectedly closed the Kerem Shalom terminal, the main crossing point for humanitarian aid and commercial goods in Gaza on Friday.

Raed Fattouh, the director of the imports department in Gaza, told Ma’an, ”The Israeli side informed us that they closed the crossing without mentioning any reasons.”

An Israeli military spokesman, Major Peter Lerner, said that the crossing was closed at the request of the Palestinian side, who wanted to do maintainence work on the crossing.

According to Fattouh, Kerem Shalom is the only crossing point that is usually open on Fridays. The closure means that no commercial goods, aid, or fuel will enter Gaza on Friday.

Overnight: Israel bombs Rafah tunnels

Date: 27 / 02 / 2009 Time: 11:29
Gaza – Ma’an –

Israeli terrorist warplanes bombed smuggling tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip on Thursday night, the second such strike in several hours.

The strikes on the Brazil neighborhood of the city of Rafah caused no injuries, according to the director of Ambulance and Emergency Services in the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza, Muawiya Hassanain.

The Israeli military confirmed this second airstrike.

Earlier Israeli aircraft bombed the same area in response to Palestinian homemade projectiles fired across the border into Israel.

Israeli warplanes strike Rafah tunnels

Date: 26 / 02 / 2009 Time: 17:31
Gaza – Ma’an –

Israeli terrorist warplanes bombed smuggling tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip along the Egyptian border.

The airstrike took place in the Brazil neighborhood of Rafah, according to the director of Ambulance and Emergency Services in the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza, Muawiya Hassanein. No one was injured but property was damaged.

The Israeli navy also fired on Palestinian fishermen off the coast of Rafah on Thursday. No injuries were reported.

The Israeli military said the airstrike was in response to two homemade rockets that landed in Israel earlier on Thursday.

One of the homemade projectiles landed in the yard of a home in the Israeli border town of Sderot.

According to the Israeli news agency Ynet, one woman was treated for shock, and two houses sustained minor damage. Another homemade projectile landed in the Sha’ar Haganev area, east of the Gaza Strip, causing no damage.

A group calling itself Hizbullah in Palestine claimed responsibility for launching the two projectiles. They said these attacks were in response to Israeli policies on Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

On Wednesday morning, Palestinians fired two projectiles across the Green Line, causing no damage or injuries. Hizbullah in Palestine also claimed responsibility for that attack.

A few hours later Israel’s air force retaliated by bombing smuggling tunnels in southern Gaza. No casualties were reported in the attack.

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