The closure of the Rafiah border crossing between <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Gaza and Egypt was allegedly carried out at the request of Fatah Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, according to a PA source quoted by Haaretz.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
The Rafiah Crossing was closed by Egypt in the wake of Hamas's successful coup against Fatah in Gaza, during which hundreds of Gazan Fatah supporters fled south to Egypt.
Abbas reportedly asked Israel and Egypt to seal off the border at Rafiah after the Hamas terror organization took over Gaza in order to prevent infiltration of more Islamic terrorists from Egypt.
According to media reports, Abbas had also asked that the request not be made public. Chief PA negotiator Saeb Erekat denied the report soon after it was published Wednesday, saying the PA had requested several times that the Rafiah Crossing be opened since its closure last month.
The PA Chairman was reportedly also concerned that thousands of Hamas supporters would also flood into Gaza, thus weakening what little power Fatah had in the region. Gaza is now completely under Hamas control, as is the Rafiah border crossing on the Gaza side.
Thousands of Gaza residents were stuck on the Egyptian side of the border when the crossing was closed and have remained there since, due to Hamas’s refusal to allow them to return to Gaza via the Kerem Shalom crossing, located on the pre-1967 side of Israel.
Both Egypt and Israel recommended that the Gaza residents return to their homes via Kerem Shalom. Reportedly Abbas made the same suggestion.
Hamas demanded the right to bring merchandise into Gaza solely through the Rafiah crossing. The group has also threatened to attack any non-Hamas members who attempt to take control of the Rafiah terminal.
The European Union officially abandoned its role of monitoring the Gaza-Egypt border, pulling all but 15 of its international observers from the area after the Hamas takeover.
The EU’s presence was one of the conditions for Israel's unilateral retreat from the strategic Philadelphi Route, which runs along the Israeli side of the border.
