GAZA: Angry demonstrators rushed into the Egyptian Embassy in Gaza City on Monday, demanding that Egypt release five Palestinian men in Cairo jails. The outburst underlined tensions over Egyptian mediation efforts with Israel. Palestinian security forces fired above a crowd of protesters to force them out of the embassy, said security official Ali Qaisi. Protesters said they tried to block an Egyptian official s car, demanding he speak to the crowd. When security guards pushed them back, they ran onto embassy grounds. The Gaza protesters were demanding Egypt release five Palestinian men they say have been imprisoned for three years without charge, after they illegally entered Egypt seeking medical treatment. The prisoners are affiliated with the Islamic Hamas. We ve got no other way of releasing our men, said Iman Humeidi, 26, wife of an imprisoned Palestinian. The clash threatened to further strain relations between Palestinians and Egypt. Egyptian officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters, said they were furious at the incident. Egypt is mediating the release of a captured Israeli soldier in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, so far unsuccessfully. Egypt is also trying to shore up a collapsing ceasefire between Palestinians and Israelis on the Gaza-Israel border. Relations hit a low after Col. Burhan Hamad, head of Egypt s security delegation in Gaza, criticized Palestinians firing rockets at Israel as negative, drawing a flood of angry statements by extreme factions.
