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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Egypt permanently opens Gaza border crossing |
| 2011-05-29 |
| RAFAH, Gaza Strip - After a four-year blockade, Egypt on Saturday permanently opened the Gaza StripÂ’s main gateway to the outside world, bringing long-awaited relief to the territoryÂ’s Palestinian population and a significant achievement for the areaÂ’s ruling Hamas militant group. The reopening of the Rafah border crossing eases an Egyptian blockade that has prevented the vast majority of GazaÂ’s 1.5 million people from being able to travel abroad. The closure, along with an Israeli blockade of its borders with Gaza, has fueled an economic crisis in the densely populated territory. But SaturdayÂ’s move also raises Israeli fears that militants will be able to move freely in and out of Gaza. Israel and Egypt imposed the blockade after Hamas seized control of Gaza in June 2007. The closure, which also included tight Israeli restrictions at its cargo crossings with Gaza and a naval blockade, was meant to weaken Hamas, an Islamic militant group that opposes peace with Israel. Since the ouster of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in February, EgyptÂ’s new leadership has vowed to ease the blockade and improve relations with Hamas. The Rafah border terminal has functioned at limited capacity for months. Travel has been restricted to certain classes of people, such as students, businessmen or medical patients, and the crossing was often subject to closures. Travel through IsraelÂ’s passenger crossing with Gaza is extremely rare. Under the new system, most restrictions are being lifted, and a much larger number of Palestinians are expected to be able to cross each day, easing a backlog that can force people to wait for months. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #6 They'll head to Londonistan for the welfare and Scandinavia for the raping. |
| Posted by: Zebulon Thranter9685 2011-05-29 14:31 |
| #5 ...from being able to travel abroad This makes it sound like the majority of Gazooks will quickly head to Cairo airport to board first-class flights to gay Paree', the Riviera, Rio and all the other great tourist parts of the world. Somehow I don't think it will work out quite that way. |
| Posted by: AlanC 2011-05-29 11:50 |
| #4 I hear the weather in Brazil is wonderful, this time of year. The smart ones will get out and keep going. If you were living in Gaza, would you stay? Why? For the beautiful future? |
| Posted by: de Medici3489 2011-05-29 09:42 |
| #3 As I recall most of the young people wanted to emigrate... Posted by: trailing wife Time to play... NEW WORD the final Gazeriatrics (adj) Gaz·er·i·at·rics [ ga jèrree áttriks ] |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2011-05-29 06:44 |
| #2 By how much will the population have fallen in a month or six, now that Gaza's residents are free to escape? As I recall most of the young people wanted to emigrate... |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2011-05-29 06:34 |
| #1 Does this mean that Israel can now shut down there borders incl food, fuel, ect? |
| Posted by: tipover 2011-05-29 00:24 |