Rafah under curfew following security threat

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Authorities imposed an indefinite curfew on Egypt's border town of Rafah Thursday following unconfirmed reports that Palestinian gunmen planned to blow up a border wall to allow thousands of Palestinians stranded on the Egyptian side to return home, a police official said. Thousands of police and security forces also were deployed at Rafah and roads leading to the town were sealed off, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media. Stores and eateries at the town were ordered to close, he said. On the Gaza side of the Rafah border, around 2,000 Palestinians from different militant factions protested to demand Egypt let through the Gazans stranded in Egypt. There were no signs to suggest they planned acts of violence.