Egypt: Border crossing to stay open
Hamas “enjoying renewed popularity” for bypassing Israel’s blockade of Gaza.
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According to the UN, at least 700,000 Gazans – nearly half the territory’s population of 1.5 million – have crossed into Egypt to stock up on desperately needed supplies.
Al Jazeera’s Jacky Rowland, reporting from the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing, said that while Israel had attempted to push Gazans into rising up against Hamas as a result of its blockade, the opposite had happened.
She said: “Hamas can claim credit now for breaking the embargo.”
“Many believed their credibilty would crumble in the face of so much pressure, but the border opening and the fact that Gazans can break out of this prison, is now seen to be the work of the Hamas leadership.”
“There is a lot of things coming from Cairo, to Gaza, and this is also helping the Egyptian economy.”
Khaled Meshaal, the exiled Hamas leader, said: “I and all the brothers in the Hamas leadership welcome participating and will seek to make the dialogue a success.”
But Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, on Saturday stuck to his conditions for resuming talks with Hamas, saying the group should reverse its takeover of the Gaza Strip.
In a speech on Saturday, Abbas called the Hamas takeover of Gaza as a “crime” and said the group must reverse these steps if they want to resume talks with him.
Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh, reporting from Ramallah, said that while Abbas welcome the invitation from Mubarak, he emphasised that the siege in Gaza is a Palestinian problem, and should remain so.
She said: “He [Abbas] was being diplomatic in his intentions to attend the Cairo talks, but he still insists that this issue will remain a Palestinone one, and is sticking by his demands that Hamas withdraw its control of Gaza.”
Abbas demands Hamas disarmament in order for dialogue to begin [AFP] |
Violence erupted at the Rafah border on Friday after the Egyptian government announced it would be shutting the Rafah crossing.
The police responded with batons and water cannons. At least 22 people were injured, according to Mena, the state news agency
Israel tightened its blockade of the Gaza Strip last week saying the move was intended to counter cross-border rocket fire by Palestinian groups.
The closure of the territory led to dwindling supplies of food, fuel and other basic necessities.