<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[Occupied Palestine | فلسطين]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[occupiedpalestine]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/author/hajarhajar/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[Gaza shuts border with Egypt as unrest&nbsp;spirals]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<p><span id="advenueINTEXT"> </span></p>
<div class="Normal" style="text-align:justify;">Times of India | Jan 30, 2011</div>
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<div class="Normal" style="text-align:justify;">RAFAH (Palestinian Territories): Gaza&#8217;s  <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Hamas">Hamas</a> rulers today shut down the  <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/search?q=Rafah%20border%20crossing">Rafah border crossing</a> after guards on the Egyptian side fled their posts due to unrest gripping the country.&nbsp;</p>
<p>As the angry revolt against President  <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Hosni-Mubarak">Hosni Mubarak</a> entered its sixth day, Hamas officials announced the Rafah crossing  would be closed for &#8220;several days,&#8221; preventing hundreds of Palestinians  from crossing into Egypt.</p>
<p>The move came after Egyptian troops  stationed on their side of the crossing fled during the border&#8217;s normal  closure at the weekend, as angry protesters rampaged across the country.</p>
<p>Every day between 400 and 500 people cross from  <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Gaza">Gaza</a> into Egypt.</p>
<p>The border closure was likely to keep thousands trapped inside the Gaza  Strip, while lack of personnel on the Egyptian side of divided Rafah  would also prevent hundreds of Gazans from returning home.</p>
<p>With  the crossing closed, Hamas bolstered its forces along the border,  deploying hundreds of troops compared with the normal deployment of  around 50.</p>
<p>The Islamist movement Hamas has so far given no  official reaction to the crisis in Egypt, where more than 100 people  have been killed in the biggest demonstrations to sweep the country in  more than 30 years.</p>
<p>But the closed border did not prevent at  least two Hamas security prisoners from returning to the Strip after  escaping from a jail near  <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Cairo">Cairo</a> as Egyptian authorities struggled to maintain a grip on law and order.</p>
<p>The two, who entered Gaza by means of cross-border smuggling tunnels,  were part of a group of eight escaped Hamas convicts trying to return  home, a senior official with the movement said on condition of  anonymity.</p>
<p>The prisoners made their escape when thousands broke free from jails across  <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Egypt">Egypt</a> amid an absence of police and chaos sparked by nationwide riots demanding the end of Mubarak&#8217;s regime.</p>
<p>Among those who returned today was Mohammed al-Shaer, a big name on the  cross-border smuggling scene, arrested six months ago, and Hassan  Wishah, who served three years of a 10-year term for unspecified  security offences.</p>
<p>The remaining six prisoners were said to  have reached Egypt&#8217;s port city of El-Arish and expected to reach the  Gaza Strip later the same day, official sources said.</p>
<p>Although  the prisoners managed to enter Gaza through the tunnels, all other  movement of goods through the underground network ground to a halt  today, sparking fears of a fuel shortage in the Israeli-blockaded  territory.</p>
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<p><a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Gaza-shuts-border-with-Egypt-as-unrest-spirals/articleshow/7392989.cms">Gaza shuts border with Egypt as unrest spirals &#8211; The Times of India</a>.</p>
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