Max Peck / February 08, 2008, 12:34 PM / Global Political Relations / #4
Egyptian and Hamas workers came together over the past week to rebuild and revise a wall (made of barbed wire and metal) between the Egyptian border and the Gaza Strip, which is under Hamas control. Hamas had been crossing over into Egypt for supplies and medical attention of a quality unavailable on their side of the boarder. Perhaps most importantly, the most vied for “supplies” were various forms of heavy weaponry.
Although thousands of Gazans still continue to flood into Egypt, the number has steadily dropped since last week, when over ten-thousand Gazans made it from one country to the next. Ironically, this previous surge was catalyzed by Palestinian militants who had the blessing of Hamas; they blasted through parts of the wall to allow all of the people.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will be in Egypt Wednesday to talk about this situation with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. The main priority for Palestinians is that Israel doesn’t get involved, since Palestinian leadership insists that they have absolutely no say in the matter. Israel maintains interest and involvement because they are uncomfortable with the flow of weapons from Egypt to Gaza.
This is a terse situation and must be handled delicately. The involvement of Israel, who in these talks resembles the annoying little brother (when they are anything but so), could escalate this situation into violence and chaos, which we know the Middle East isn’t wholly adverse to. The important development to pay attention to is the meeting between the leaders of Egypt and Palestine that will occur on Wednesday.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/01/28/gaza.border/index.html#cnnSTCText (Associated Press)
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