Palestinian shot at Gaza-Egypt crossing
Monday 12 September 2005, 19:29 Makka Time, 16:29 GMT
A
Palestinian has been shot dead at the Rafah border crossing in the
southern Gaza Strip just hours after the departure of Israeli
occupation forces.
Medical
sources and witnesses said Egyptian border guards opened fire on Nafez
Attiyeh, 34, while he approached a security fence at the border.
Medics said he was shot in the head. A second Palestinian was wounded when he was shot in the thigh.
But
Aljazeera's correspondent in Cairo quoted Egyptian presidential
spokesman Suleiman Awad as denying that Egyptian border guards had
opened fire at Palestinians.
The
reported shootings come amid chaotic scenes at the border where dozens
of Palestinians, including armed resistance fighters, swarmed into part
of the buffer zone abandoned by Israeli troops who left Gaza early on Monday.
Barricades knocked down
In one section in the divided border town of Rafah,
dozens of joyous youngsters entered the no-man's land on the Egyptian
side after toppling a barbed wire barricade on a concrete wall that
marks the frontier.
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Many Palestinians have entered
into previously banned Gaza areas | Some Egyptian
security officials said they had allowed some crossings to take place
as a "humanitarian" gesture to let people separated for years reunite.
But they indicated that free, unchecked crossings would be short-lived as Egypt deploys 750 heavily armed troops to secure its border with Gaza following the end of Israel's 38-year occupation.
First few crossings
Two walls - one Egyptian and the other long guarded by
Israel - run through Rafah separated by a narrow strip.
Egyptian
security forces stood by as hundreds of Egyptians and Palestinians
helped people climb over the fences at will and join the spontaneous
celebrations held under a scorching sun.
"Before,
no one could get near this area. They would be either shot or
captured," said one of the Egyptian policeman who are being replaced by
the incoming border guards.
"It is only for today, but you can see there is chaos," a policeman added.
But even if it is just for a day, some were pleased to cross the lines.
One
woman, 22-year-old Maisaa Fayez, screamed out: "Aunty! Are you my aunt?
Do you know who I am?" as she leaned to the Palestinian side to embrace
a woman who broke into tears.
And
18-year-old Muhammad Salem, who climbed over the two walls from
Palestinian Rafa said: "My mum wanted to come as well but she wasn't
able to climb the ropes … This is not just the beginning, this is
victory. All the people are happy."
Goods
such as fish, chocolate and cigarettes also crossed the fences easily,
with Egyptian police stepping in occasionally to confiscate some of the
contraband.
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