Palestinian security forces sealed off Gaza's southern border early yesterday, officials said, halting a chaotic flood of people into Egypt since the Israeli withdrawal from the area.
Adnan Barbach, a spokesman for the Palestinian National Security Forces, said all the gaps in the border were closed, and 2,000 security personnel were now deployed along the border. He said the Palestinians were working with Egypt to make sure that all Gazans in Egypt could return home.
Officers were seen patrolling the border area early yesterday and preventing people from crossing. Angry Palestinians turned around, and threatened to return with Hamas militants and homemade rockets. A helicopter hovered overhead.
Security along the border broke down last week after Israel completed its withdrawal from Gaza. With the Israelis gone, thousands of Palestinians freely crossed into Egypt without any border checks.
Although most people traveled to shop, celebrate or reunite with relatives, Palestinian officials acknowledged that drugs and weapons were smuggled into Gaza.
The border mayhem has emerged as a key test for Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, who is under heavy Israeli pressure to assert control in Gaza. After talks with Egyptian security officials, Abbas had promised to have the border under control by early this week.
The issue has put Abbas in a difficult situation. With legislative elections scheduled in January, Abbas needs to secure freedom of movement for his people or risk losing support to the rival Hamas movement.
But the chaos along the border makes him look weak in the eyes of the world and will make it tougher to negotiate a future border deal with Israel.
Before withdrawing, Israel agreed with Egypt to seal the Rafah terminal, Gaza's main gateway to the outside world.
Israel said it would consider allowing the terminal to reopen in six months, if the Palestinians rein in militant groups during that time. Israel fears militants will smuggle weapons into Gaza. In the meantime, all traffic in and out of Gaza is to be rerouted through Israeli-controlled crossings.
The Palestinians want immediate control of the crossing. They say the free flow of people and goods across the border is essential for rebuilding Gaza's shattered economy.
Kehinde Sanni spends his days smoothing out dents and repainting scratched bumpers in a modest autobody shop in Lagos. He has never left Nigeria, yet he speaks glowingly of Burkina Faso military leader Ibrahim Traore. “Nigeria needs someone like Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso. He is doing well for his country,” Sanni said. His admiration is shaped by a steady stream of viral videos, memes and social media posts — many misleading or outright false — portraying Traore as a fearless reformer who defied Western powers and reclaimed his country’s dignity. The Burkinabe strongman swept into power following a coup in September 2022
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
‘FRAGMENTING’: British politics have for a long time been dominated by the Labor Party and the Tories, but polls suggest that Reform now poses a significant challenge Hard-right upstarts Reform UK snatched a parliamentary seat from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labor Party yesterday in local elections that dealt a blow to the UK’s two establishment parties. Reform, led by anti-immigrant firebrand Nigel Farage, won the by-election in Runcorn and Helsby in northwest England by just six votes, as it picked up gains in other localities, including one mayoralty. The group’s strong showing continues momentum it built up at last year’s general election and appears to confirm a trend that the UK is entering an era of multi-party politics. “For the movement, for the party it’s a very, very big
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
RSS