TruthNews

Egypt Talks With Iran And Hamas On Border Breach

International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, 28 Jan 2008

Egypt and Hamas on Monday finally managed to close one of three gaps blown open in the Rafah border fence last week, hoping to stem the flow of thousands of Palestinians out of the Gaza Strip and into Egypt over the past six days.

The openings were closed with barbed wire, with Hamas militants only permitting supply trucks to enter the Sinai side of Rafah. Earlier attempts to close the breaches over the weekend resulted in injuries to 40 Egyptian troops, some seriously.

In other moves over recent days, Egyptian forces blocked roads out of Rafah towards El-Arish, stopped re-supply convoys headed towards the town's market stalls, and arrested 20 armed Palestinians that had infiltrated the Sinai Peninsula.

Hamas has been invited by the Egyptian government to Cairo to discuss ways the two parties can cooperate to resolve the current border situation between Egypt and Gaza, provided they accept the deployment of Palestinian Authority presidential guard units along the border, to prevent control by Hamas guards only.

PA officials have already discussed such an arrangement with Egypt and said Hamas will be told they have to accept this agreement. "If Hamas rejects the agreement, they will be held responsible for the continued closure of the border," said one PA cabinet minister.

Meanwhile, Hamas patron Iran has offered to help Egypt "provide help to the Palestinians." Egypt has said that it welcomes the cooperation, which will primarily be through their Red Crescent branches.

Iran and Egypt have not shared diplomatic ties since 1979, when Egypt signed a peace agreement with Israel, and offered asylum to overthrown Iranian Shah, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi. But there have been signs of rapprochment between Cairo and Tehran lately, including a phone call last week between Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The situation with the Gaza border is one that continues to worry both Israel and the Fatah-dominated PA, specifically since it leaves the Strip open to weapons and contraband smuggling.