<?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[Hamas closes Gaza&#8217;s southern&nbsp;border]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<p id="stand-first" class="stand-first-alone"><em>Rafah border closure expected to last for several days as Israel warns of increase in weapons smuggling during unrest in Egypt</em></p>
<p><a class="contributor" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/harrietsherwood">Harriet Sherwood</a> in Tel Aviv and Phoebe Greenwood in <a title="More from guardian.co.uk on Gaza" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gaza">Gaza</a> City <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/">guardian.co.uk</a>,			 																		 				            Sunday 30 January 2011 18.49 GMT</p>
<ul class="article-attributes">
<div id="article-wrapper"><img src="https://i0.wp.com/static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2011/1/30/1296413355070/Rafah-Gazas-southern-bord-007.jpg" alt="Rafah, Gaza's southern border with Egypt" width="460" height="276" /> Rafah, Gaza&#8217;s southern border with Egypt has been closed by Hamas. Photograph: Mohammed Saber/EPA<a title="More from guardian.co.uk on Hamas" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/hamas">Hamas</a> officials today closed <a title="More from guardian.co.uk on Gaza" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gaza">Gaza</a>&#8216;s southern border as <a title="More from guardian.co.uk on Israel" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/israel">Israel</a> warned that the turmoil in <a title="More from guardian.co.uk on Egypt" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/egypt">Egypt</a> could result in increased smuggling of weapons into the volatile territory.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The  closure of the Rafah border crossing was expected to last for several  days at least, said Ghazi Hamad, the Hamas official in charge of the  Gaza side of the terminal.</p>
<p>A Hamas delegation which was due to  travel through Egypt to Syria to discuss the fate of captured Israeli  soldier Gilad Shalit postponed its trip.</p>
<p>Israel army radio said the military were preparing for an increase in arms smuggling to Gaza.</p>
<p>An  Israeli official told the Guardian: &#8220;There is obviously concern around  the whole issue of weapons smuggling. Egypt is our ally in preventing  the flow of arms, and on the assumption that Egyptian forces are  occupied [with the unrest], Hamas and its allies could be exploiting  that situation. That is our immediate concern.&#8221;</p>
<p>Israel has been  cautious in commenting on the wave of protests sweeping Gaza, and prime  minister Binyamin Netanyahu instructed ministers and officials to  refrain from making statements.</p>
<p>Netanyahu today told cabinet  colleagues: &#8220;We are anxiously monitoring what is happening in Egypt and  [elsewhere] in our region. Our efforts are designed to continue and  maintain stability and security in our region.&#8221;</p>
<p>Egypt is an important regional ally of Israel since signing a peace agreement between the two countries more than 30 years ago.</p>
<p>Under  the terms of the treaty, both countries agreed to limitations on  military presence along the border. However,  the Egyptian army was  reported to have moved into the Sinai peninsula. Asked if the move had  Israel&#8217;s prior knowledge or agreement, the official declined to comment.</p>
<p>In  Gaza, petrol pumps began to run dry today after most tunnels used to  smuggle commercial goods closed. Israel allows only a limited amount of  petrol into Gaza every week, and most people depend on fuel smuggled  from Egypt, which is almost five times cheaper.</p>
<p>At the Tarzin petrol station &#8211; one of the few with fuel left to sell &#8211; long queues of cars formed in heavy rain.</p>
<p>Yousef  Mardi, 22, was among those waiting: &#8220;I&#8217;ve been looking for somewhere to  fill my car since yesterday. This is the only place left with diesel.  There is no more petrol left anywhere.</p>
<p>&#8220;Even though we are  suffering, we have to support what they are doing (in Egypt). They are  poor like us. We understand what they&#8217;re going through.&#8221;</p>
<p>Bassam  Rajab, 28, a pump-attendant at Tarzin, expected to run of fuel before  the end of the day. He explained: &#8220;The problem is with the smugglers on  the Egypt side. While there is so much violence there, it&#8217;s too  dangerous to drive cars full of fuel to the border. If they are shot by  the military, their car will explode like a bomb.&#8221;</p>
<p>The fuel  shortage also affects families and businesses who rely on diesel-powered  generators during power cuts which last up to eight hours a day.</p>
<p>Fatma  Mazanan, 50, a housewife and mother of five, was stockpiling cooking  oil and fuel for the family generator. &#8220;Who knows how many days of chaos  there will be? Who knows how the Israeli&#8217;s will respond? Many families  fear that this crisis is only just beginning. I am very worried for my  family,&#8221; she said.</p>
<p>Reem Al Sharif, 30, whose husband had queued  for with huge crowds for generator fuel, said: &#8220;We have managed to stock  up for now but we don&#8217;t have anything here in Gaza. The tunnels with  Egypt were the lungs we used to breathe.</p>
<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re watching what  happens in Egypt very closely. For the past few days, families across  Gaza have just stayed in &#8211; we&#8217;re watching the news all the time.&#8221;</p>
<p>The  Shifa Hospital, the biggest in Gaza, depends on generators for four  hours a day, using 6,000 litres of petrol. Dr Fawzi Nablusia, director  of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), said the fuel shortage was a  catastrophe.</p>
<p>&#8220;We are completely dependent on electricity, it&#8217;s  simply not possible to ration it. Our ventilators, the oxygen supply,  the monitoring devices, all of the machines must run constantly.&#8221;</p>
<p>The  hospital has begun to use its fuel reserves and has enough keep going  for eight days. Ambulance drivers have also been forced joined  three-hour long queues at petrol stations.</p>
<p>&#8220;Running out of fuel is a catastrophe I can&#8217;t even entertain,&#8221; said Nablusia.</p>
</div>
</ul>
<p><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/30/hamas-closes-gazas-southern-border">Hamas closes Gaza&#8217;s southern border | World news | The Guardian</a>.</p>
]]></html><thumbnail_url><![CDATA[https://i0.wp.com/static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2011/1/30/1296413355070/Rafah-Gazas-southern-bord-007.jpg?fit=440%2C330]]></thumbnail_url><thumbnail_width><![CDATA[440]]></thumbnail_width><thumbnail_height><![CDATA[264]]></thumbnail_height></oembed>