Egypt to begin expanding Gaza buffer zone next week

[oberliner]

Egypt said Tuesday work will begin next week to double the width of a buffer zone being built along the border with the Gaza Strip to prevent militants infiltrating from the Palestinian enclave.

A 500-metre wide buffer zone is now being built along some 10 kilometers of the border, with some 800 homes being demolished in the process.

Work will begin next week to expand it by another 500 meters, North Sinai provincial Governor Abdel Fattah Harhur said.

Harhur told AFP he had met families from the area to be evacuated and told them they needed to inform authorities of the border city of Rafah whether they want financial compensation or alternative housing.

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/12/31/Egypt-to-begin-expanding-Gaza-buffer-zone-next-week-.html

[azurnoir]

1. yes it is a shame that the Egyptian government is so very callous towards its own people

they are destroying homes on the Egyptian side of the Gaza border which bi-sects Rafah

[Scootaloo]

2. Well, remember...

After seizing power in his coup, Fateh al-Sissi had two thousand people in Cairo murdered. And something around four thousand around the rest of the country. Another 1,500 were tried and sentenced to death in absentia.

Because they belonged to, or were somehow associated with, the democratically-elected government of Egypt or the party thereof.

The whole time John Kerry was swanning around Cairo, sharing canapes with the general, and they were giggling and high-fiving like college brodude dudebros.

Remember Israel's introduced resolution at the UN to condemn this butchery and oppression? How Israel dismissed the Egyptian ambassador over it? The strong condemnation from Israeli politicians, press, and people over it?

Yeah, I don't remember any of that, either.

[oberliner]

4. At least the rest of the Arab League condemned the butchery and oppression

Which one of the Arab states ended up introducing that resolution in the UN?

Or perhaps the Palestinian leadership?

[Scootaloo]

5. Well, they're not the Light Unto All Nations, Oberliner.

[oberliner]

3. Egypt: End wave of home demolitions, forced evictions in Sinai amid media blackout

The Egyptian authorities must halt the arbitrary demolition of hundreds of homes and mass forced evictions underway in Rafah, North Sinai in order to create a buffer zone along the border with the Gaza Strip, Amnesty International said amid signs that the operation may be expanded.

“The scale of the forced evictions has been astonishing; the Egyptian authorities have thrown more than 1,000 families out of their homes in just a matter of days, flouting international and national law. Shocking scenes have emerged of homes in Rafah being bulldozed, bombed, with entire buildings reduced to piles of rubble and families forcibly evicted,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.

At least 800 homes have been destroyed with an estimated 1,165 families forcibly evicted from their homes since the Egyptian military began clearing the area days after a deadly attack on a military checkpoint in North Sinai that killed at least 33 soldiers on 24 October 2014, according to official statements.

The authorities have proceeded with the evictions completely ignoring key safeguards required under international law including consultation with residents, adequate prior notice, sufficient compensation for losses and granting alternative housing to those who cannot provide for themselves, rendering the evictions unlawful.

http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/egypt-end-wave-home-demolitions-forced-evictions-sinai-amid-media-blackout-2014-11-27