Palestinian police re-seal hole in wall

Thu Jun 29, 2:46 PM ET

RAFAH, Egypt - Hundreds of Palestinian and Egyptian police formed human cordons on both sides of the Gaza-Egypt border Thursday to block Palestinians trying to get through after militants blasted a hole in a cement wall near the crossing.

The blast seemed to be mostly a symbolic act and was unlikely to affect the Israeli ground invasion of the area. The hole provoked several hours of pushing and shoving to get across the border, but Palestinian police managed to reseal the wall with bricks and cement late Thursday.

"This was a passing incident. Our war is with the Zionists and not with Egypt," said Abu Majd, a militant spokesman.

Egypt also imposed a curfew on the nearby town of Rafah, ordering all stores, banks and restaurants shut, said Ahmed el-Masri, chief of police there.

Rafah is divided between Gaza and Egypt, and residents disdain the wall and frequently try to blow it up. The same wall was breached shortly after Israeli troops withdrew from Gaza last September.

An Associated Press reporter on the Egyptian side of the border heard men with megaphones screaming that they were from the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military wing, and saying they were responsible for the blast. They also threatened "another bold action" after evening prayers, but did not elaborate.

Mohammed Zaanoun, 19, said he saw a dozen militants approach the concrete wall in a white sedan. They got out of the car with shovels and dug a hole near the wall, he said. He identified them as members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, affiliated with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement.

"I was sitting on the roof of the house, fixing the roof when I saw Aqsa brigades come in a Subaru and head toward the wall," he said.

Militants from the Hamas and the Islamic Jihad militant groups also helped blow up the wall, he said.

Two Israeli F-16 fighter jets screeched across the sky, setting off a sonic boom that sent Palestinians below running for cover. Two Israeli helicopters also flew overhead.

The Israeli military confirmed aerial activity in the vicinity, but said it had not attacked any targets from the air in the Rafah region.

The sound of automatic weapons being fired into the air was heard over Palestinian national songs being blasted from speakers on the Gaza side. Loudspeakers also broadcast voices encouraging Palestinians to keep trying to penetrate the border.

Dozens of Palestinians, mostly young boys, struggled to push through the 12-foot-wide hole and hurdle a second border wall less than 100 yards away, witnesses said.

Boys threw rocks at Palestinian security forces, but at one point stopped in order to pray alongside the border fences.

None was able to cross into Egypt.

Dozens of people streamed to the area after the blast, and groups of young men milled about, admiring the force of the explosion. Angry policemen pushed back the crowd, pointing weapons toward the crowd. No shots were fired.

Medical officials said two police officers standing near the wall were injured by the explosion.

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AP correspondent Diaa Hadid contributed to this report from the Rafah, Gaza Strip

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