Rafah Crossing's Opening Prompts Hamas Welcome, Israeli Concern

Bloomberg
May 26, 2011

http://www.jewishpolicycenter.org/2233/rafah-crossing-opening-prompts-hamas-welcome

Egypt's decision to open its border crossing with the Gaza Strip permanently from May 28 has been welcomed by Hamas while raising concern in Israel.

In addition to ending restrictions at the Rafah checkpoint, Egypt will waive visa requirements for most Palestinians entering from other departure points, except neighboring Libya, the state-run Middle East News Agency reported yesterday.

"These measures are the right decision in the right direction to facilitate the daily life of the population and ease its suffering," Hamas, the Islamic movement that controls Gaza, said in an e-mailed statement.

The Egyptian move is a "problematic" first-step, Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai told Israel Radio today, though he said it doesn't constitute a violation of the Camp David accords between the countries. Israel's Foreign Ministry will withhold comment until it sees what the arrangements at the border with Gaza will be, spokesman Yigal Palmor said.

Israel maintains an embargo on the Gaza coast in what it says is an effort to prevent weapons smuggling, and has restricted the flow of goods and people in and out of Gaza through its own border crossings since Hamas gained full control of the area in 2007.

Egypt has also restricted the passage of Gazans through its own crossing since Hamas clashed with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement, breaking apart a unity government between the two.

Egypt's move to open the border is part of its efforts to back the reconciliation between Palestinian groups, its state- run news agency said. The new Egyptian leadership, which has taken a more favorable approach to Hamas since President Hosni Mubarak was forced out in February following anti-government protests, brokered an agreement between Fatah and Hamas in Cairo this month that paves the way for a new unity government.

Hamas is defined as a terrorist group by Israel, the U.S. and the European Union.

In easing the border restrictions, Egypt is restoring the rules that existed before the 2007 Gaza clashes, with only Palestinian men 18 to 40 requiring visas, MENA said. As a result of the turmoil in Libya, all Palestinians entering from there will also need visas, the agency said.

Tunnels dug underneath the Egypt-Gaza borders have become a central means of smuggling goods and people back and forth to evade restrictions at the Rafah crossing. Israel says the tunnels are also used to bring in weapons and the rockets fired into the country's south.

--With assistance from Ahmed A Namatalla in Cairo. Editors: Heather Langan, Andrew J. Barden

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