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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Cutting off their noses: Gazans close Rafah border crossing in protest |
| 2011-06-05 |
| (Ma'an) -- Palestinian officials closed the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip on Sunday, the terminal's director Ayyoub Abu Sha'ar said. Closed out of frustration, Abu Sha'ar said the Egyptian authority's 'mechanism' at the terminal was unclear, citing Egypt's decision to close the crossing on Saturday without coordinating with Palestinian officials. Egypt opened the terminal several hours later than scheduled Saturday without informing Palestinian officials. Several buses of Palestinians were left waiting at the Egyptian gate, and dozens of Palestinians tried to storm the border. Egyptian security sources said the delay was due to maintenance works underway at the crossing. Egyptian authorities opened the crossing on Saturday afternoon, but only for passengers on foot. The director of border crossings in Gaza, Salameh Barakeh, said the decision was difficult to implement due to the number of patients, elderly people and children who were traveling among others across the sole Egyptian exit from Gaza. Abu Sha'ar said consultations were ongoing between Gaza's foreign ministry and the Egyptian government to resolve technical and administrative problems at the terminal. He said the crossing would reopen as soon as the issues were fixed. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #2 More to be made in a siege. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2011-06-05 14:34 |
| #1 ...Gawd, these people are idiots. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2011-06-05 12:39 |