|
|
| By: israelinsider staff |
| Published: March 8, 2007 |
| |
An elderly man died and 7 others were wounded Thursday when a mass of 5,000 Palestinians attempted to cross from the Gaza Strip into Egypt at the Rafah border crossing, Palestinian medics reported.
Israel keeps the border crossing closed due to security reasons, only opening it sporadically, which leads to large masses of Palestinians when opened.
The crowd of 5,000, some of whom arrived the night before, quickly became uncontrollable, said medics. An elderly man died of a heart attack during the chaos, though the circumstances of his death remain uncertain.
The Palestinian security guards at the crossing soon lost control of the situation as the crowd pushed its way toward the gate and threw stones, eventually prompting the guards to begin firing bullets into the air, injuring two.
"It was impossible for the Palestinian security personnel to keep control," said Jose Vericat, spokesman for the EU observers stationed at the gate. According to Vericat the guards were forced to temporarily close the gate after the crowd rush.
According to the EU observers, Israel has kept an even tighter hold on the crossing since the June 2006 kidnapping by terrorists of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, the border being open less than one-fifth of the time since the capture. |
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
Click on the blue headline to read a Talkback comment and respond to it. Click on the  icon to send a private email to the talkback writer. The icon appears only if the writer has decided to be contacted. If no popup window appears, please make sure your popup blocker allows israelinsider.com.
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
