RAFAH: Hundreds of Palestinians began pouring into the Gaza Strip from Egypt through the Rafah terminal on Wednesday despite Israeli objections, ending a five-day standoff that left them stranded in Egypt after returning from an Islamic pilgrimage. Estimates originally put the number of pilgrims at 3,000, but Egyptian security officials said Wednesday that 2,152 were slated to return to Gaza. Taken by surprise, the Israeli government conveyed its ''deep fury'' to Egypt, Israeli defense officials said Wednesday, indicating that the move would further damage already rocky relations between the states. An Egyptian official said Wednesday that Israel had been ''informed'' of the Egyptian decision to let the pilgrims back. But Israeli defense officials said Israel hadn't approved their return and that Egypt's decision to let them back into Gaza ''contradicts understandings'' between Israel and Egypt. Officials in the Israeli foreign ministry said they had not been informed about Egypt's decision. The Israeli officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press. Mushir Al-Masri, a Hamas lawmaker who came to the crossing to greet the returning pilgrims, praised Egypt for its decision. ''This is a humanitarian case since the start. Egypt's position was laudable. We thank Egypt,'' Al-Masri said. Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, is currently in Cairo and raised the issue in a meeting with President Mubarak, the Palestinian foreign minister, Riad Malki, said Wednesday. ''The Egyptians completely coordinated their return with the Israeli side,'' Malki said. A day earlier, around 200 Palestinians stranded for months on the Egyptian border crossed back to their homes in the Gaza Strip and more are expected to follow, Israel said. An Israeli defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said 100 people crossed the frontier from Egypt into Israel at the Kerem Shalom crossing and were bused onward to Gaza on Tuesday, following the same number the day before. The direct crossing between Egypt and Gaza, at Rafah, was closed in June after Hamas took over the coastal strip, stranding many Palestinians on their way back from studies or medical treatment abroad. In coordination with Israel, Egypt has since allowed several hundred Palestinians to return home by crossing through Israeli territory instead, but around 800 are believed to be still waiting to make the journey. Another group of Palestinian have been staying in 11 shelters near the northern Sinai town of Al-Arish, including a number of Hamas members, and have been seeking to return to Gaza after making the annual Muslim hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, without submitting to Israeli supervision at Kerem Shalom, fearing Israeli capture. The pilgrims rioted in the temporary camps set up for them by Egypt and threatened a hunger strike if not allowed to return to the Gaza Strip through a border crossing not controlled by Israel. Senior Hamas official Ayman Taha s threat Tuesday came a day after some of the pilgrims housed in temporary shelters in northern Sinai burned mattresses and broke windows, protesting Egypt s refusal to let them enter Gaza through the Rafah crossing. The crisis appeared to be coming to an end Wednesday with the pilgrims return. An Egyptian security official said the government had issued an order to let the Palestinian pilgrims cross through Rafah. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. How can we hand ourselves in to the Israelis? said Mohammed Darwish, as the 32-year-old Palestinian government employee sat in one of the temporary shelters near Al-Arish. Our demand is very legitimate and they can search us if they have any concerns. Darwish performed the hajj with his wife, mother and sister, leaving his two sons and daughters at home in the Gaza Strip. They phone me everyday and ask me when we will be back and I have no answer, he added. Many of the pilgrims protested by refusing to get off the buses that drove them from Nuweiba to Al-Arish. I sleep in the bus. I won t sleep in their shelters, said 60-year-old Maha Al-Kara. I would prefer we die here rather than hand our sons over to the Israelis. Egypt has come under increasing criticism from Israel, which accuses it of not doing enough to stop arms and money smuggling into Gaza. Cairo is also sensitive to claims it is helping worsen the humanitarian situation in impoverished Gaza.
