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.
Four people jailed in the landmark Hong Kong national security trial of "47 democrats" accused of conspiracy to commit subversion were freed today after more than four years behind bars, the second group to be released in a month. Among those freed was long-time political and LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham (岑子杰), who also led one of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy groups, the Civil Human Rights Front, which disbanded in 2021. "Let me spend some time with my family," Sham said after arriving at his home in the Kowloon district of Jordan. "I don’t know how to plan ahead because, to me, it feels
Poland is set to hold a presidential runoff election today between two candidates offering starkly different visions for the country’s future. The winner would succeed Polish President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who is finishing his second and final term. The outcome would determine whether Poland embraces a nationalist populist trajectory or pivots more fully toward liberal, pro-European policies. An exit poll by Ipsos would be released when polls close today at 9pm local time, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Final results are expected tomorrow. Whoever wins can be expected to either help or hinder the
North Korea has detained another official over last week’s failed launch of a warship, which damaged the naval destroyer, state media reported yesterday. Pyongyang announced “a serious accident” at Wednesday last week’s launch ceremony, which crushed sections of the bottom of the new destroyer. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called the mishap a “criminal act caused by absolute carelessness.” Ri Hyong-son, vice department director of the Munitions Industry Department of the Party Central Committee, was summoned and detained on Sunday, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. He was “greatly responsible for the occurrence of the serious accident,” it said. Ri is the fourth person
The collapse of the Swiss Birch glacier serves as a chilling warning of the escalating dangers faced by communities worldwide living under the shadow of fragile ice, particularly in Asia, experts said. Footage of the collapse on Wednesday showed a huge cloud of ice and rubble hurtling down the mountainside into the hamlet of Blatten. Swiss Development Cooperation disaster risk reduction adviser Ali Neumann said that while the role of climate change in the case of Blatten “still needs to be investigated,” the wider impacts were clear on the cryosphere — the part of the world covered by frozen water. “Climate change and