TEL AVIV — Egyptian riot police fired water cannons and shots into the air in an attempt to close the breached border with the Gaza Strip yesterday, but thousands of Palestinians continued to stream across the border in defiance of an early evening deadline to return home.
While Egyptian security officers formed a human chain to plug up the border, Palestinian bulldozers driven by Hamas militants knocked down more sections of the border barrier erected by Israel when its army occupied the Gaza Strip.
Militants in black clothing, some of them masked, stood atop a bulldozer as it knocked down concrete slabs under the watchful eyes of Hamas security officials, who were later seen patrolling on the Egyptian side of the border, the Associated Press reported.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have crossed into Egypt in the past three days to stock up on food, medicines and other goods, marking a victory for Hamas and a blow to Israel’s months-long siege on Gaza to pressure the Islamic militants.
The inability of Egypt to stem the chaos after three days of unfettered movement left Cairo in an uncomfortable standoff with Hamas and underlined uncertainty about how the border will be controlled in the future. There is concern in Israel the lack of monitoring would be exploited by militants looking to carry out attacks inside Israel.
While using attack dogs and plastic shields to push back the masses, Egyptian border police were showered with rocks by angry Palestinians.
Meanwhile, members of the Hamas executive force used bulldozers to breach new sections of the wall to the cheers of bystanders. As the barrier fell, hundreds of Palestinians flooded across the border.
“I call on the Arab states to stand alongside us. The passage needs to be always open,” one Gazan man told television reporters on the border. “So there will be a link between Egypt and … Gaza. We are all Arabs, we are all brothers. We should love one another and look after one another.”
According to reports, the influx included a number of Palestinian women in finely embroidered dresses and fresh makeup. They were heading to relatives’ weddings in Egypt, which they said had been hastily moved up to allow Gazan family members to attend.
Palestinian and Egyptian sources estimated that 500,000 Gazans reached the Egyptian side of the border. The Egyptians said they would close the border at 7 p.m., according to the Israeli news Web site Ynet.com, but never made good on the deadline.
Egyptian police were reportedly chasing down a van of Palestinians headed deep into the Sinai Peninsula. Israeli security officials have warned that breach may turn Sinai into a refuge for Palestinian militants dispatched to kidnap or carry out attacks on Israelis.
Hamas, which has seen its popularity surge as a result of the border breach, has said that it wants to negotiate a new border regime with Egypt and the Palestinian Authority led by President Mahmoud Abbas. That will force the latter two to make the uncomfortable choice between negotiating with the Islamic militants or allowing the border chaos to continue.
Mr. Abbas said Thursday that the Palestinian Authority should take control of Gaza’s border crossings, a move that would require a dialogue between the two sides.
“Israel wants to make Egypt responsible for — not for feeding the Gaza Strip, nor for the electricity of the Gaza Strip, but also for the security of Gaza Strip. That’s a big trap that one shouldn’t fall into,” he said.
The border was first breached on Wednesday in response to Israel’s decision to tighten economic sanctions on Gaza in order to stop Palestinian missiles from falling into the Israeli town of Sderot. The lack of diesel fuel prompted the Palestinian electricity company to close down power at night for most of Gaza City.
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