By Xinhua
Cairo : A swarm of Palestinians on Saturday continued to pour into the Egyptian side as the borders between Egypt and the Gaza Strip remained largely open for four consecutive days, the Egyptian MENA news agency reported.
In addition to the thousands already in the country, more than 100,000 Palestinians flooded into Egypt on Friday, North Sinai Governor Ahmed Abdel-Hamid was quoted by MENA as saying.
Palestinians would continue to cross the border until they got from Egypt all their needs of commodities and foodstuffs, which are scarce and expensive in Gaza, Abdel-Hamid said.
After coordination among the North Sinai local government and the Egyptian Ministries of Social solidarity and Trade and Industry, large amounts of commodities and products were secured to meet the needs of the Palestinians into the Egyptian side of the border.
Abdel-Hamid added that Egyptian security agencies were instructed to facilitate the Palestinians’ passage and guide them to the places where they could get their basic needs.
As the hope to lift Gaza siege faded, Hamas militants on Wednesday blew up holes in the concrete wall separating southern Gaza and Egypt, allowing tens of thousands of Gazans to enter Egypt to purchase necessities of life.
On Friday, a large number of Palestinians rushed into the Egyptian side again after the bulldozer knocked over a new section of the border wall separating Egypt and the Gaza Strip.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak noted Friday that Egypt is ready to host dialogue between rival Palestinian movements Fatah and Hamas to end their disputes and set the stage for talks that could help lift the Israeli siege on Gaza. Both sides had expressed welcome to Mubarak’s offer.
However, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday insisted his demand for Hamas to reverse the control of the Gaza Strip back to the Palestinian National Authority for holding Fatah-Hamas talks.
The national dialogue between Hamas and Abbas’ Fatah collapsed last June after Hamas militants overran Fatah’s security forces and took control of the Gaza Strip.
Israel ordered the shut-down of all Gaza crossings in the wake of Hamas’ violent takeover of the Gaza Strip and further tightened the siege recently in retaliation to ongoing makeshift rocket attacks carried out by Palestinian militants from Gaza against Israel.