Egypt takes steps to close Gaza border

[bemildred]

RAFAH, Egypt - Egyptian guards with riot shields formed human chains along the Egypt-Gaza border Friday, but were unable to stop hundreds of Palestinians from rushing into Egypt after a bulldozer wrecked another section of fence along the frontier.

Men in black clothing, some of them masked, stood atop the bulldozer as it knocked down a concrete slab under the watchful eyes of Egyptian forces on the other side who shot in the air in an attempt to hinder the flow of Gazans into Egypt.

Thousands of Palestinians, many of them carrying empty fuel canisters, managed to push through several openings despite the presence of the Egyptians deployed nine rows deep in some places. At one point, guards aimed a water cannon above the heads of people, not at them, to keep them back.

Cranes were positioned next to the border, lifting crates of supplies over into Gaza.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080125/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_palestinians

Hamas challenges Egypt's bid to close Gaza border

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (Reuters) - Egypt started to close its breached border with the Gaza Strip on Friday but Palestinian militants bulldozed a new opening in a challenge to Cairo and Israel's blockade of the Hamas-run territory.

Palestinian crowds cheered as Hamas militants used a bulldozer to flatten sections of the chain and concrete fence. In a scene broadcast live on television around the world, Egyptian riot police watched from a distance as hundreds of people poured into Egypt.

Israeli air strikes overnight killed four Palestinian militants in the southern Gaza town of Rafah, where Hamas blasted open the border wall on Wednesday, letting tens of thousands rush across to stock up on goods in short supply in the impoverished strip, home to 1.5 million people.

Violence has also flared in the occupied West Bank, where Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian teenager one day after Palestinian militants killed an Israeli border policeman and infiltrated a Jewish settlement near Bethlehem.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080125/wl_nm/palestinians_israel_dc