Gazans pour over Egyptian border

Egyptian troops pulled back overnight from the breached Gaza border after a security guard was shot in the foot, allowing thousands of Palestinians to stream across unhindered. Witnesses said Palestinian taxis drove passengers across the border three days after Palestinian militants blasted it open in defiance of an Israeli blockade, and Gaza-plated cars and trucks entered Egypt to bring back supplies of food and fuel. No Egyptian soldiers were visible at the border. An Egyptian security source said forces had received orders from Cairo to pull back and avoid confronting Palestinians. Mohamed Ali al-Shahed, 32, drove his car into Egypt to retrieve a shipment of drugs ordered from Cairo for his pharmacy in Rafah on the Palestinian side of the divided border town. "I haven't had new drugs in my pharmacy for seven months... Thank God the pharmacy now has medicine, and at more moderate prices," he said as he drove back into Gaza, guiding an Egyptian truck filled with medicines into the Palestinian territory. On Jan. 25, Egyptian forces began placing barbed wire and chain-link fences to stop more people crossing. But Hamas militants, cheered on by crowds of Gazans, used a bulldozer to flatten sections of the chain and concrete fence. Tensions flared at one point when Palestinians threw stones at Egyptian police, who responded with batons and water cannon. Egyptian state news agency MENA said 22 Egyptian security men were injured while trying to contain the crowd. Egyptian security sources at the border said seven security men were injured, 6 by stones and one shot in the foot. Adel Salman, an Egyptian government employee who lives near the border, said he had seen truckloads of police leaving. One security source said Egyptian forces were told to allow the border to remain open for three more days, while others said no time limit had been set. The Egyptian government faces a difficult balancing act. It does not want to be seen as aiding the Israeli blockade, but is under US and Israeli pressure to take control. It also fears the spread of Islamic fundamentalist influence and the effects of hosting so many Palestinians without identity papers. On Jan. 23, tens of thousands of Palestinians briefly escaped the poverty and violence that has engulfed the Gaza Strip, after militants blew up vast sections of the barrier separating the embattled territory from Egypt, sparking an exodus. It began with 17 coordinated blasts from explosives and landmines planted at the base of the concrete and steel wall. Egyptian border guards and police stood by as the Palestinians crossed freely in cars, on foot and in donkey carts. Many later returned laden with food, fuel, and building materials. Some of those who crossed the border said it was the first time they had left Gaza, which has been under severe economic sanctions by Israel. The destruction of the border fence deals a heavy blow to Israel's policy of preventing the passage of goods and people into and out of the narrow coastal strip, home to 1.5 million Palestinians. The restrictions, which have been in place since Hamas took control of Gaza last June, were tightened the previous week when Israel closed all crossings into the territory, even to basic humanitarian supplies. The Israeli measures are designed to increase pressure on Hamas and stop rockets fired by Gaza-based militants on nearby Israeli cities. Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president, said he had ordered his troops to allow the Palestinians to cross because they were starving. "I told them to let them come in and eat and buy food and then return them later as long as they were not carrying weapons," he said. Hamas voiced support for the border action, although it did not claim credit for the destruction of the border barrier. In a statement, the group said: "Blowing up the border wall with Egypt is a reflection of the... catastrophic situation which the Palestinian people in Gaza are living through due to the blockade." Khaled Meshal, the Hamas leader in exile in Damascus, said his movement would work with Egypt and the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, head of the rival Fatah movement, to establish a new border arrangement. Louise Arbour, the UN high commissioner for human rights, said it showed the "level of desperation" of Gazans who, she said, "live under abhorrent conditions." Gazan Ibrahim Abu Taha, 45, a father of seven, was in the Egyptian section of Rafah with his two brothers and $185 in his pocket. "We want to buy food, we want to buy rice and sugar, milk and wheat and some cheese," Abu Taha said. "I'm going to Al-Arish to see my married daughter. I have not seen her in four years," said Um Muhammed, as she prepared to go through a two-meter-wide hole in the border wall. "I hope I can see her." Back in Gaza, the crisis continues. Long power shortages are reported and a third of the population of 1.5 million have frequently had no access to drinking water.