Region | Palestinian Territories
Egypt braces for border closure
Israel will allow vital goods to enter impoverished Gaza, Olmert tells Abbas.
- Agencies
- Published: 00:11 January 28, 2008
- Image Credit: EPA
- Olmert receives Abbas on his arrival for talks at the prime minister's residence in occupied Jerusalem.
Rafah, Egypt/Occupied Jerusalem: Egyptian forces moved to close their breached border with the Gaza Strip by stopping vehicle traffic on Sunday and further tightening their security cordon around the small frontier town of Rafah in an effort to contain Palestinians crossing freely into Egypt for the fifth day in a row.
One of the gaps carved into the border wall had been blocked with piles of sand and border police carrying electric cattle prods stopped cars with Palestinian plates from entering Egypt at other openings and Egyptians cars from crossing into Gaza.
They were joined by Hamas-affiliated security forces who encouraged Gazan motorists to return to the Palestinian territories.
Pedestrians, however, continued to move back and forth freely, buying goods.
"Egypt will take necessary actions and measures to control the border in Gaza soon," said Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Aboul Gaith, following a meeting in Cairo with Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.
Many stores were still open and people carried their purchases through the muddy streets of the divided border town of Rafah, despite a chilly drizzle. Merchants said some stores only closed because they had run out of inventory.
Vehicle closure
The vehicle closure, however, suggested that the five-day buying spree was nearing its end, much to the chagrin of an Egyptian who drove his pickup up truck all the way from the Suez Canal city of Port Said with plans to sell a wardrobe and a gold-coloured living room couch set in Gaza.
"It's not fair," said 23-year-old Mohammad Hussain. "Let the people come in and shop and let us make money."
Outside Rafah, police tightened their cordon and increased their checkpoints to stop Palestinians from entering the rest of Egypt and in the nearby town of Al Arish, security forces approached Palestinians on the streets and ordered them home.
Meanwhile, Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told the Palestinian president at a meeting on Sunday that Israel would allow vital goods to enter the impoverished Gaza Strip, officials said.
"The two leaders discussed at length the situation in Gaza and both agreed on the need to prevent a humanitarian crisis there," Olmert spokesman David Baker said, referring to the talks with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.
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