The metal wall that stood between Gaza and Egypt is folded over like a piece of paper. Yesterday a group of women massed at the Rafah terminal crossing that has been sealed shut with only two exceptions of a few hours since Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007.
At 2am the border was stormed and from that time on the population across the entire Gaza Strip has been thinning out as people young and old head to the border.
Why?
To get a breath of fresh air, to see something different, to take their sick to the hospital and buy food and household goods.
Two nights ago Nusseirat camp where I was visiting was out of candles and electricity had been out since the night before.
It is hard to find public transportation as taxis and buses are all heading South, just to get out.
For now electricity is back for hours at a time. Israel allowed in enough gas to restart Gaza City’s main power plant and hospitals but none for gas stations. They remain closed.
Despite the shortage, vehicles are running. Today prices to Rafah are double for a space on the back of a truck what they were for a seat in a taxi yesterday.
Escaping from this cage of boredom is being done at any price.The increased siege over the past week finally caused an explosion.
Cigarettes are down from 20 shekels to 7.
The bakeries have flour to make bread.
image 1: AP
8 comments:
Phillip,
Are you back in Gaza? For how long?
Lord knows how Israel will respond to this. Today we celebrate. Jail Break!
I am returning to Palestine this August and will stay until December. I hope to spend some time in Gaza while in Palestine. Will you be around?
Cheers, Adam Beach
By the way, the film is coming along well...if you have access to an address where you can recieve international packages I can send you a 15min promotional DVD...and in May the completed film.
wagepeacebeach@gmail.com
I wanted to cheer when I heard this on the news this morning, but I suppose this is only a temporary relief for the 'inmates'.
"Lord knows how Israel will respond to this."
If these Arabs are shopping then they're not shooting at us so we don't have to shoot at them, therefore us Jews are better off.
What about looking at this from another perspective?
A highly secretive operation that involved the Hamas leadership pulled off the biggest scam in the recent history of the conflict.
For months the Hamas had been busy cutting the steel fence on the Egytpian border in preperation for the blockade they knew would come when they began to escelate the launching of missiles at Israeli population centers.
Staged photo ops with Hamas leaders being interviewed (with candles lit) during the light of day with the international media proved to be a winning combination.
The duping of a willing international media is one of the best ploys the Palestinians use in from their highly effective propaganda arsenol.
Never mind the fact that they did indeed divert fuel and electricity from hospitals and the general population, but when getting more weapons into Gaza is the aim, all methods are fine and dandy for the Hamas terrorists, no matter how immoral and detrimental they may be.
So? We use lights too even when it's dailight. ;)
As an Israeli, I couldn't care less. Half of Gaza streaming into Egypt is Egypt's business, not ours. I'm guessing Egypt is fairly happy, as long as their Gazan neighbors plan to return home after shopping.
If anyone returns home with rockets instead of cheese and gasoline, Israel will fight back and mop the floor with them, yet again. That's the entire extent to which we need to be involved, IMO.
Oh Yes, you got it right, Gaza is a Zoo and those wild and dangerous animals got out!
The Fence/wall must be rebuild and made more secure.
Yeah because fences and walls are really what makes security. Didn't we learn from those past mistakes yet?
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