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Sunday, June 05, 2011

Rafah border closed - first by Egypt and then by Hamas

From 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.

Abu Sha'ar said the crossing was closed because the Egyptian authority's mechanism at the terminal was unclear, and because Egypt closed 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.

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.
Al Arabiya reported that the Egyptian action came after Egyptian security forces found weapons in a car driven by Palestinian Arabs in Alexandria.