Egyptian border troops opened fire on a group of young Palestinians attempting to cross the border from Gaza into Sinai on Friday night, killing one of them, Egyptian sources said. The Palestinian men did not obey orders to stop and Egyptian border troops opened fired. This is the first time the Egyptian army has used violence against Palestinian infiltrators since last October's closure of the Rafah border crossing, State-owned Al-Ahram newspaper reported. Israeli newspaper, The Jerusalem Post, stated that a spokesman of the Ministry of Interior in Gaza, Eyad Al-Bozom, identified the dead Palestinian as 17- year- old Zaki Al-Hoobi. "We condemn the killing of the Palestinian kid, Al-Hoobi, by the Egyptian army's bullets. We consider it a dangerous development and an excessive use of force, which violates the brotherly relations between Egypt and Palestine," Al-Bozom said in a press release a few hours after the incident. Three of the men were arrested inside Egypt and taken into custody for investigation. They said they had entered Egypt to buy cigarettes and sell them in Gaza, according to The Jerusalem Post. Since the 50-days war in the Gaza Strip last July and August, Egypt has imposed strict rules on Palestinians coming from Gaza. The Israeli raids demolished the Strip's entire infrastructure, leaving it in a disastrous condition. The residents now suffer a lack of essential goods and services.
