Just as I predicted. The Egyptians went ahead and backed out of their agreement with Israel NOT to let the palestinian pilgrims (including up to 1000 Hamas) back into Gaza through a non-Israeli checkpoint and allowed those they were detaining to enter Gaza through the unguarded Rafah checkpoint.
Even though I knew this would happen, it still pisses me off to no end. Talk about the tail wagging the dog. The palestinians and Hamas raise some fuss, start some fires and mighty Egypt cowers like a scared kitten and caves in.
As we reported earlier, the reason Israel wanted the pilgrims to have to enter Gaza through their guarded checkpoints is because the Hamas members were laden with suitcases full of Saudi and Iranian cash - even some say to keep their jihadist efforts going for another six months.
This will mean some very strained relationships between Egypt and Israel. Just great (sarc off).
Here's the full story of Egypt's surrender.
Even though I knew this would happen, it still pisses me off to no end. Talk about the tail wagging the dog. The palestinians and Hamas raise some fuss, start some fires and mighty Egypt cowers like a scared kitten and caves in.
As we reported earlier, the reason Israel wanted the pilgrims to have to enter Gaza through their guarded checkpoints is because the Hamas members were laden with suitcases full of Saudi and Iranian cash - even some say to keep their jihadist efforts going for another six months.
This will mean some very strained relationships between Egypt and Israel. Just great (sarc off).
Here's the full story of Egypt's surrender.
Egypt allows Palestinian pilgrims to bypass Israeli checkpoint
Egypt allowed 2,000 Palestinian pilgrims who had been stranded for days in the Egyptian Sinai to cross back into the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, a decision that is expected to fuel Israeli tensions with Cairo over what Israel sees as lax security along the Gaza-Egypt border.
The Hamas rulers of Gaza celebrated the return of the pilgrims via the Rafah border crossing as a victory. The crossing, on Gaza's border with Egypt, has been officially closed since Hamas took over the strip in June, routing Fatah forces there.
The Palestinians had traveled to Saudi Arabia for the annual Muslim pilgrimage under the aegis of Hamas. Israel had demanded that they return via an Israeli-controlled crossing, Kerem Shalom, where they could undergo Israeli security checks before re-entering Gaza. Hamas had refused to send the pilgrims back through Kerem Shalom, saying that its supporters could be arrested by Israel.
Israeli officials suspect that some of the pilgrims brought back large sums of money and other contraband for Hamas, the Islamic group that Israel, like the United States and the European Union, defines as a terrorist organization.
An Israeli government official said: "If people are returning to Gaza without going through the required security procedures, then that would be contrary to the understandings reached." The official was speaking on condition of anonymity for reasons of diplomacy
No comments:
Post a Comment