Hamas, Egypt working together to urge Palestinians back to Gaza

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Palestinians moved freely across the border for a sixth day into the muddy Egyptian side of Rafah town where many stores are displaying empty shelves after trucks carrying supplies from Cairo area have been prevented from entering the town. Palestinian and Egyptian security forces manned the crossing points, stopping civilian cars and letting trucks through, while pedestrians scoured the nearly empty stores for food and consumer products to take back to the Gaza Strip with them in fear of an imminent border reclosing. Egyptian storekeepers, despite the financial windfall of the past few days, expressed worry of the continuing flow of Palestinians into their stores in light of an apparent government decision to halt the resupply shipments. On the Gazan side, a dozen blue-camouflaged Hamas security guards armed with assault rifles deployed by the gate and began stopping civilian cars from entering Egypt, allowing through only trucks to carry back more supplies.