JPost.Dozens hurt on Gaza-Egypt border

More than 30 Egyptian police officers hospitalized, including some in critical condition, after troops clash with Palestinians; Gazans continue to cross into Egypt despite Cairo's attempts to restore order
Associated Press
Published:
01.26.08, 15:31 / Israel News

Egyptian riot police and armored vehicles restricted Gaza motorists to a small border area of Egypt on Saturday, in the second attempt in two days to restore some control over the chaotic frontier which was breached by Hamas earlier in the week.
At least 36 members of the Egyptian security forces have been hospitalized, some in critical condition, as a result of cross-border confrontations, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said.
The minister complained of "provocations" at the border, a thinly veiled reprimand of Hamas, and said that while Egypt is ready to ease the suffering of Gazans, this should not endanger Egyptian lives.
On the Gaza-Egypt border, traffic of cars and pedestrians remained heavy Saturday, four days after Hamas blew down the border wall, sending hundreds of thousands of Gazans rushing into Egypt.
In an attempt to restore some control, Egyptian armored vehicles blocked the main street of the Egyptian border town of Rafah, causing a snarled traffic jam of honking cars filled with Gazans shopping for fuel, food and consumer products.
Egyptian roadblocksEarlier Saturday, dozens of riot police had formed human chains to block the two passages cut through the breached border, before once again giving up and allowing the cars to cross into the Egyptian side of the divided town. Authorities were making renewed efforts, however, to keep them out of the rest of the country.
Early Saturday, hundreds of Gaza cars crossed into Egypt. Palestinians and Egyptians could be seen bypassing the checkpoints around Rafah, however, via dirt roads. In the coastal town of al-Arish, about 35 kilometers (20 miles) west of Gaza, the roadblocks were tighter and police were witnessed telling shopkeepers to close their stores.
Hundreds of cars with Gaza license plates were seen in al-Arish on Saturday, many lining up at gas stations.
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