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Cairo: Amidst massive protests against Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip, voices have been raised in Egypt warning against the repercussions of an influx of the Gazans on the country's national security.
“No one can be happier than Israel about the chaotic entry of the Palestinians into Egypt as we have seen over the past few days," said Nabhan Sweilam, an expert in the Nasser Military Academy in Cairo. "The Jewish state wants to get rid of the nightmare of Gaza and has its 1.5 million population re-settled in Sinai," he told Gulf News.
An estimated 750,000 Palestinians have flocked into Egypt over the past week after activists from the Islamist group Hamas, which controls the impoverished Gaza Strip, blew up holes in the border fence. The Palestinians, reeling under an Israeli lockdown of nearly two years, have gone on a shopping spree in the nearby Egyptian towns for fear that the Egyptian authorities would close the border soon.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and rivals from Hamas are expected in Egypt on Wednesday to separately discuss with officials measures to control the border.
Hamas and Israel have been under criticism in Egypt allegedly for seeking to destabilize the country's security.
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