By Xinhua
Gaza : A senior Islamic Hamas official said Thursday that blowing up the fence of the borders between Gaza Strip and Egypt is a first step towards ending more than seven months of Israel blockade on the enclave.
Mohamed al-Ghoul, head of the legal committee in the Hamas dominant parliament declined in statements to say that his movement was responsible for blowing up the metal and cement fence of the borders with Egypt.
However, witnesses in the southern Gaza town of Rafah confirmed that they saw al-Qasam Brigades, Islamic Hamas movement’s militants were planting explosives under the fence and blowing up part of it.
“Blowing up the fence, which is part of a popular pressure by the residents, is a first step towards ending the blockade, “al-Ghoul said, adding “what is needed now is to rearrange the issue legally without Israel’s interference.”
On Wednesday, thousands of Palestinians crossed from the Gaza Strip into Egypt after Hamas militants detonated bombs under the cement fence on the borders and destroyed part of it.
“Blowing up the borders is the beginning of reinforcing the Palestinian-Egyptian sovereignty on Rafah crossing without any Israeli involvement,” said al-Ghoul.
He added that “the crossing should be officially opened by both the Egyptians and the Palestinians to organize the movement of people and goods. The crossing and the borders must be Palestinian-Egyptian only.”
Meanwhile, Nemer Hammad, an aid to President Mahmoud Abbas called on Hamas movement to leave as immediate as possible Rafah Crossing and the borders area.
“What happened at the borders with Egypt can never be called a success, it is a great failure of Hamas and Hamas should admit that after seven months it had failed to rule the Gaza Strip,” Hammad said in a press statement on Thursday.