RAFAH, Gaza Strip, 27 January 2008 — Egyptian riot police and armored vehicles restricted Gaza motorists to a small border area of Egypt yesterday, in the second attempt in two days to restore some control over the chaotic frontier which was breached by Hamas gunmen earlier in the week.
At least 38 members of the Egyptian security forces have been hospitalized, some in critical condition, as a result of cross-border confrontations, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said. The minister complained of “provocations” at the border, a thinly veiled reprimand of Hamas, and said that while Egypt is ready to ease the suffering of Gazans, this should not endanger Egyptian lives.
In the West Bank, meanwhile, moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas stuck to his tough conditions for resuming contacts with Gaza’s Hamas rulers, dimming prospects for Egypt’s proposal to have the two Palestinian rivals come to Cairo for talks on resolving the border crisis. Earlier, Hamas had accepted Egypt’s proposal, and Hamas’ Sami Abu Zuhri accused Abbas of trying to bypass Hamas. “His statements are a rejection of the Egyptian initiative,” Abu Zuhri said of Abbas. Abbas has said, and reiterated yesterday, that he would only talk to Hamas if it retreats from its violent June takeover of Gaza, something Hamas is unlikely to do.
On the Gaza-Egypt border, traffic of cars and pedestrians remained heavy yesterday, four days after Hamas gunmen blew down the border wall, sending hundreds of thousands of Gazans rushing into Egypt.
In an attempt to restore some control, Egyptian armored vehicles blocked the main street of the Egyptian border town of Rafah.
Earlier yesterday, dozens of riot police had formed human chains to block the two passages cut through the breached border, before once again giving up and allowing the cars to cross into the Egyptian side of the divided town.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military announced yesterday that its troops were on heightened alert along the border with Egypt, and that an Israeli road and tourism sites in the area are temporarily closed. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Abbas are to meet in Jerusalem today, and the border crisis was sure to be discussed.
