Gaza: Hamas takes direct action at Rafah border

Reuters

Hamas gunmen blew a six-metre (20-foot) hole in the Gaza-Egypt border wall on Friday, allowing nearly 1,000 Palestinians stranded by the closed border to cross home, officials and witnesses said.

Carrying their luggage and young children, Palestinians chanted "God is Greatest" and "God bless Hamas" as they passed into Gaza.

Many of them had been trapped on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing since June 25, when Palestinian militants seized an Israeli soldier in a cross-border raid.

Six stranded Palestinians, including an infant, had died waiting on the closed border.

"How do I feel? I feel happy, very happy," said Naeem Ashehri, sitting on one of his bags on the Gaza side of the border after being stranded at the crossing for 22 days. "We had almost lost faith."

Another man exclaimed: "We are free. We are back home."

The operation could boost Hamas, which has faced a Western aid boycott that has prevented the government from paying salaries to 165,000 workers since March.

One masked gunman said: "This is a gift from Hamas to the Palestinian people." Read more
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