Gazans apprehensive after Rafah closure

Gaza: After last week’s assault on Egyptian troops by militants and the subsequent closure of the Rafah crossing, Palestinians living in Gaza are apprehensive about their future.

“With the closure of Rafah, I don’t know when I will be able to return back to my family in Jordan,” Sanaa Manaa, a Palestinian woman who came to spend Ramadan with her family in Gaza told Gulf News.

Since the Israeli siege of Gaza began in 2007, most of the fuel that Gaza receives comes through tunnels linking up to Egypt.

Many fear that these attacks will add more restrictions and reduce the amount of fuel entering the Gaza strip, which has already been facing a fuel crisis for over six months now.

This has forced many Gaza residents to form a queue at petrol stations to fill up gallons of fuel.

“I’m afraid that this incident will cut the entering of fuel into Gaza strip. I need a lot of fuel these days to operate my generator since there is no electricity,”Anis Al Bayouk, a shop owner told Gulf News. “Half of my goods are stuck on the Egyptian side of the border. If they don’t come through in the next few days, I will face huge losses,” he added. “Things are going to get worse in Gaza. Palestinian-Egyptian relations will face some problems and the Egyptian authorities will certainly change the way it deals with Gaza strip both a political and security level,” political analyst Hani Habib said.

Habib added: “Its not clear up till now as to whether the Gazans were involved in this matter. Those extreme Islamist’s maybe alsofrom other nationalities not only Palestinians or Egyptian.