Serene Assir reports from Arish on measures to repatriate Palestinians who flooded across the border with Gaza Two weeks after the surprise opening of the Egypt-Gaza border 1,500 Gaza residents were forcefully repatriated on Tuesday alone and up to 500 arrested following clashes between Egyptian security forces and Palestinians. It is unclear how many Palestinians now remain in North Sinai, but the number is believed both by Egyptian security and Palestinians still in Arish to be very low. "We sent the vast majority home [Tuesday," said a police source speaking to Al-Ahram Weekly on condition of anonymity. "You won't find many in the city any more." An estimated 1,500 Palestinians had been rounded up in a youth camp in Arish and promised visas -- they have residency in countries other than Palestine -- but they too suffered the consequences of the clampdown and were repatriated back to Gaza rather than given the visas they were promised, according to witnesses. Only 23 people remained in the camp six hours after the expulsion operation took place Tuesday. "They were made to board the Central Security Forces' trucks and taken to the border," said Nafiz, a Gaza resident who believed Egypt would grant him leave to travel to Cairo, and from there to Germany, where he legally works. Initially, as thousands of Palestinians were freely crossing the border to trade, visit relatives and friends, or simply enjoy the sudden disruption of the seven-month- long Israeli-instigated siege, Nafiz had not thought of crossing over. "I had no intention of doing anything illegal, but when I heard promises that we would be allowed to travel on from here I decided it was worth it. Now, stranded in this camp in the cold, watching the degrading treatment of fellow Palestinians and uncertain just what is going to happen to my family and me I regret it," he told the Weekly. "Having undergone a siege, the last thing we needed was to be treated this way." Arish residents report heavy-handed techniques used by security forces to round up Palestinians staying in rented chalets, hotels or Egyptians' homes. "We had opened our home to 15 Palestinians, all of them aged between 22 and 25," said Mohamed Gamal, who sells natural honey and olive oil products in Arish. "Then, at 1am on Monday morning, State Security forces broke into the house detained half of them. The others escaped into the night. We don't know where any of them are now." According to a police source by Tuesday most of those arrested had been repatriated. It was impossible at press time to confirm the exact number, the whereabouts or the condition of those still in detention. In an attempt to keep Palestinians out of Egypt, and to prevent those already inside from moving freely pending their expulsion, roads to and from North Sinai were heavily guarded with checkpoints. Press access was limited, particularly on Tuesday morning following Monday's clashes at the border during which one Palestinian civilian was killed and several Palestinians and Egyptian Central Security Forces troops wounded. Clashes broke out when Egyptian security fired live rounds into a crowd of stone throwing Palestinians protesting the sealing of the border. Hamas gunmen opened fire in retaliation. "The situation was made very tense by this incident. We will let the press in once we have dealt with it," said a State Security official in Arish. Other officials speak of the possible infiltration into Egypt of armed Palestinians intending to stage attacks in Sinai. "Several people have been arrested carrying equipment to be used in suicide attacks," one source told the Weekly. "They will not be released any time soon. After their arrest instructions were issued barring international diplomatic entries into North Sinai except for people with permission from Military Intelligence." In 2007 Hamas revelations exposed the links between former Palestinian security chief Mohamed Dahlan -- who had excellent ties with Israel -- and the terrorist attacks in Sinai that began with Taba in October 2004. "No foreign presence is tolerated now in North Sinai given the threat that Israel may well be behind the terrorist threat against Sinai," said the source. Just how long the current state of tension in North Sinai will last is uncertain. With negotiations over future arrangements for the Rafah border terminal -- closed since 9 June 2007 -- still in the offing arrangements to block movement in the area have led to North Sinai itself being under a siege of sorts. The purchase of petrol is forbidden on roads in Sinai leading to Arish, and there continued to be a shortage of bread after traffic using the Salam Bridge crossing over the Suez Canal into North Sinai was stopped. And though no incidents were reported at Rafah itself on Tuesday, the Weekly was denied access to the border town.
