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Rafah: Egyptian troops stood by and let thousands of Palestinians stream out of Gaza on Saturday a day after failing to seal breaches blown in the border by fighters defying an Israeli blockade.
But in a sign that Egyptian patience could be wearing thin, the government warned Palestinians not to provoke security forces.
Gaza-registered cars and trucks ferried food and fuel back from Egypt to evade the blockade Israel said it imposed to counter rocket fire from the Hamas-controlled strip.
Security sources said Egyptian forces had been ordered to pull back from the border overnight and avoid confrontation. A handful of guards in armoured vehicles trickled back yesterday to monitor the border flow without taking any action.
Egypt does not want to be seen as aiding the Israeli blockade, but is under US and Israeli pressure to take control. It also fears the spread of Islamist influence and the effects of hosting so many Palestinians without identity papers. The fall of the wall was a setback to a US-backed campaign to curb Hamas's clout and boost Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Plan to end blockade
Palestinian officials said Abbas had a plan to end the blockade of Gaza and would urge Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to accept his offer to control Gaza crossings if the two men met as expected on Sunday.
But Israeli officials said Olmert rejected the idea and Hamas has said it will prevent such a move unless it has a say in any future agreements regarding the border crossings.
One security source said Egyptian forces were told on Saturday to allow the border to stay open for three more days. Others said no time limit had been set.
Mohammad Ali Al Shahed, 32, drove his car into Egypt to retrieve a shipment of medicine ordered from Cairo for his pharmacy in Rafah on the Palestinian side of the divided border town. "I haven't had new drugs in my pharmacy for seven months ... Thank God the pharmacy now has medicine, and at more moderate prices," he said.
While Egyptian forces were standing back from the Rafah border, hundreds of police deployed in the nearby town of Al Arish, closing the main streets to traffic as Gaza-plated cars streamed into town.
A scuffle between Hamas supporters and Egyptian troops on Friday injured several people, including at least 22 Egyptian soldiers.
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