Gaza City: The European Union is scaling back its monitoring mission at the Gaza-Egypt border, a spokeswoman said yesterday, suggesting that Gaza's only gateway to the world won't open again anytime soon.
The Rafah border terminal closed on June 9, the start of the final round of factional fighting that led to Hamas' takeover of the coastal strip. Since then, about 6,000 Gazans have been stranded on the Egyptian side of the border.
Three members of the government of moderate Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad headed to Cairo yesterday to try to find a solution.
In the current situation, it's pointless to keep all 87 members of the EU mission in the area, said mission spokeswoman Maria Telleria. She would not say how many members of the mission are leaving in coming weeks. "I can't foresee in the near future that the border will be opened on permanent basis," she said.
The Rafah terminal is operated by Egypt and the Palestinian security forces. Under under a 2005 agreement, European monitors were deployed on the Palestinian side to prevent smuggling of weapons and militants.
Israel has proposed rerouting the stranded travellers through Kerem Shalom, an Israeli-controlled crossing into Gaza, but Hamas has rejected the idea, apparently for fear of setting a precedent.
"We are against opening the Zionist-controlled crossing of Kerem Shalom," said a Hamas spokesman, Fawzi Barhoum. "This is a conspiracy against our people by Israel and the pro-American leadership in Ramallah," Barhoum said in a reference to Fayyad's government.
Lawlessness: Palestinian gunmen storm exam hall
Two dozen Fatah gunmen shooting in the air disrupted final high school exams in the West Bank's second largest city Nablus yesterday, after education officials rejected their demand to be allowed to take the tests in a separate room.
Gunmen from Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades entered two exam rooms, forcing some 550 students to delay their tests for several hours. T
hey demanded to be allowed to take the test in a separate room, citing security concerns; many of the armed men are wanted by Israel.
Many of the gunmen are school dropouts. Obtaining a high school diploma would mean a higher rank and salary if, as Abbas has promised, he would recruit them into the Palestinian security forces under an amnesty deal with Israel.
