Egypt's NUCA, SHMFF sign New Cairo land allocation for integrated urban project    CIB named Egypt's Bank of the Year 2025 as factoring portfolio hits EGP 4bn    Egypt declares Red Sea's Great Coral Reef a new marine protected area    Oil prices edge higher on Thursday    Gold prices fall on Thursday    Egypt, Volkswagen discuss multi-stage plan to localise car manufacturing    Egypt denies coordination with Israel over Rafah crossing    Egypt to swap capital gains for stamp duty to boost stock market investment    Egypt tackles waste sector funding gaps, local governance reforms    Egypt, Switzerland explore expanded health cooperation, joint pharmaceutical ventures    Egypt recovers two ancient artefacts from Belgium    Private Egyptian firm Tornex target drones and logistics UAVs at EDEX 2025    Egypt opens COP24 Mediterranean, urges faster transition to sustainable blue economy    Egypt's Abdelatty urges deployment of international stabilisation force in Gaza during Berlin talks    Egypt, Saudi nuclear authorities sign MoU to boost cooperation on nuclear safety    Giza master plan targets major hotel expansion to match Grand Egyptian Museum launch    Australia returns 17 rare ancient Egyptian artefacts    China invites Egypt to join African duty-free export scheme    Egypt calls for stronger Africa-Europe partnership at Luanda summit    Egypt begins 2nd round of parliamentary elections with 34.6m eligible voters    Egypt warns of erratic Ethiopian dam operations after sharp swings in Blue Nile flows    Egypt scraps parliamentary election results in 19 districts over violations    Egypt extends Ramses II Tokyo Exhibition as it draws 350k visitors to date    Egypt signs host agreement for Barcelona Convention COP24 in December    Al-Sisi urges probe into election events, says vote could be cancelled if necessary    Filmmakers, experts to discuss teen mental health at Cairo festival panel    Cairo International Film Festival to premiere 'Malaga Alley,' honour Khaled El Nabawy    Egypt golf team reclaims Arab standing with silver; Omar Hisham Talaat congratulates team    Egypt launches National Strategy for Rare Diseases at PHDC'25    Egypt launches Red Sea Open to boost tourism, international profile    Omar Hisham Talaat: Media partnership with 'On Sports' key to promoting Egyptian golf tourism    Sisi expands national support fund to include diplomats who died on duty    Egypt's PM reviews efforts to remove Nile River encroachments    Egypt resolves dispute between top African sports bodies ahead of 2027 African Games    Germany among EU's priciest labour markets – official data    Paris Olympic gold '24 medals hit record value    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Palestinians suffer restrictions at Rafah border ahead of Egypt's protests
New security restrictions reduce the number of Palestinians crossing into Egypt, but the border will remain open on Sunday according to Hamas official
Ahram Online Published in Ahram Online on 29 - 06 - 2013

Ghazy Hamad, deputy minister of foreign affairs for the Hamas government, stated on Saturday that Egyptian authorities have not notified the Gaza Strip of any closing of the Rafah border on Sunday, when Egypt will witness mass protests against President Mohamed Morsi.
“We are in continuous communication with Egypt on both the political and security level; however, we have recently noticed a slowness in work at the Rafah border [because of increased restrictions] that caused a notable decrease in the number of travellers from the Gaza Strip,” Hamad said in a press statement.
He went on to explain that previously the number of people crossing from Gaza was almost 1,200 daily, but over the last week the numbers had dropped to between 600 and 650.
“Around 1,200 Palestinians have been returning on a daily basis from Egypt to Gaza in fear of the situation in Egypt,” added Hamad, who went on to say that the tunnels located on the Egypt-Gaza borders, used by Palestinians to transport goods, have witnessed the recent imposition of excessive restrictions by Egyptian authorities.
According to Hamad, the restrictions have led to shortages in some basics products in the Gaza Strip.
Hamad went on to state that the Gaza Strip will never be a source of threats to Egypt, adding that no Palestinian has been convicted of a crime against Egypt.
“The strength of Egypt is the strength of Palestine and its cause,” said Hamad. He added that he hoped that the “current crisis” in Egypt would pass peacefully given that the situation in Egypt directly impacts Gaza.
Following the rise of Islamists to power in post-revolution Egypt and the inauguration of President Mohamed Morsi, negative rumours about the involvement in Egyptian politics of Palestinians and members of Hamas, an ideological offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, have been on the rise.
In March, Al-Ahram Al-Arabi, a state-run Egyptian weekly magazine, sparked controversy by claiming that three Hamas members were responsible for a deadly attack that killed 16 Egyptian border guards near Rafah in the Sinai Peninsula last August.
The claims were vehemently denied by the Hamas government, which asserted its commitment to protecting Egypt's security, stressing that Palestinians would never forget the "sacrifices" made by Egypt for the Palestinian cause.
The Rafah border was closed in May, after Egyptian guards blocked the border crossing to protest the kidnapping of seven security personnel in Sinai. The crossing was reopened the same month after the personnel were freed by their kidnappers.
The temporary closure of the border left thousands of Palestinian stranded at the crossing.
http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/75274.aspx

Clic here to read the story from its source.