Palestinian pilgrims protest, refusing Egyptian attempts to move them into camps in Sinai

Decision to let pilgrims cross Rafah enrages Israel

Al-Manar
 
Zionist war officials blasted Egypt on Wednesday January 2 after it allowed Palestinian pilgrims returning from Makkah to cross into the Gaza Strip through the Hamas-controlled Rafah border crossing.
 
Egyptian protesters hold signs reading: "The siege of Gaza is a siege of the resistance" as they chant anti government slogans in front of the Egyptian Parliament in Cairo during a protest demanding the return of Palestinian pilgrims to the Gaza Strip, Wednesday.
 
Among the group of pilgrims were former ministers in the Hamas government, as well as senior members of the Hamas military wing, the officials said. "This is against all agreements," a senior Zionist war official told The Jerusalem Post, noting that Egypt's decision to open up Rafah against Israel's objections exactly one week after Zionist War Minister Ehud Barak visited Egypt for talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, was "grounds for a diplomatic crisis."

The official said that while the decision to open Rafah was detrimental for Israel, it would cause far more damage to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, since the move is viewed as a success for Hamas, and undermine Abbas and his government in Ramallah.
 
The return of the Palestinians ended a five-day standoff that left them stranded in Egypt. Two people, including one traveler holding a large cloth bag, were the first to pass through Rafah, greeted by green-vested representatives of Hamas. The pilgrims left Gaza last month to make the Hajj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia. They became trapped in Egypt on their way home last weekend when the Egyptian government said they would have to cross through the Zionist-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing instead of going directly into Gaza through Rafah.
 
Estimates originally put the number of pilgrims at 3,000, but Egyptian security officials said Wednesday that 2,152 were slated to return to Gaza. An Egyptian official said Wednesday that Israel had been "informed" of the Egyptian decision to let the pilgrims back but officials in the Zionist Foreign Ministry said they had not been informed about Egypt's decision.
 
Mushir al-Masri, a Hamas lawmaker who came to the crossing to greet the returning pilgrims, praised Egypt for its decision. "This is a humanitarian case since the start. Egypt's position was laudable. We thank Egypt," al-Masri said.
 
In a spat between Israel and Egypt last week, Zionist Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Egypt was doing a "terrible" job of securing the border. In an angry response, Egypt's foreign ministry said she should not speak "randomly about issues she should not be dealing with if she is not fully aware of the situation." And Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit warned Monday that Egypt would "retaliate" diplomatically.