Hamas prevents Egypt sealing border
Bulldozers bypass Egyptian guards to smash new openings in Rafah crossing.
Violence erupted at the Rafah border on Friday after the government announced it would close the crossing.
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Egyptian forces took up positions a few steps into Palestinian territory, using shields to protect themselves from some Gaza residents who climbed on to car roofs and threw stones at them.
The police responded with batons and water cannon and 22 were injured, according to state news agency Mena.
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“Egyptian border guards have no orders to engage with Palestinians and close the borders again,” Al Jazeera’s Amr el-Kahky, reported from Rafah.
Blockade ‘unacceptable’
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.
Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president, has called the situation in Gaza “unacceptable” and called on Israel to “lift its siege” and “solve the problem”.
There was no immediate response from Fatah, but in the past Abbas has demanded that Hamas relinquish its hold on Gaza and agree to early presidential and parliamentary elections before dialogue is resumed.
Abdallah Abdallah, a Fatah politician in the West Bank city of Ramallah, said: “There is a Palestinian consensus that Hamas should give up its control of Gaza and fall into line with President Abbas, without this the talks would be a waste of time.”
However, the Hamas-engineered border breaches have boosted the movement’s popularity in the territory.