Attempts to secure the border between the newly independent Gaza Strip and Egypt have run into difficulties since Israel completed its unilateral withdrawal from Gaza this past Monday.
Wednesday, members of the militant group Hamas destroyed a section of a concrete barrier on the Gaza-Egyptian border. The militants warned PA security officials not to interfere as they destroyed the barrier. The PA security officials just watched.
As a result of the new, poorly controlled border, thousands of Palestinians have crossed into Egypt without undergoing official border checks.
Egyptian authorities have given Palestinians in Egypt a deadline of 6:00 PM today, local time to return to Gaza or they will be arrested.
Still, Egypt's ambassador to Israel sympathized with those crossing the Gaza border into Egypt.
'You're talking about people who have been physically in prison for the last 38 years,' claimed Ambassador Mohammed Asim Ibrahim. 'So some elements just rushed to the other side of the border,' he added.
Meanwhile, Egyptian officials found a tunnel leading from Egypt to the Gaza Strip. Inside the tunnel they found guns and grenades which were being smuggled into Gaza by militant groups. The tunnel was destroyed by Egyptian security guards shortly after it was discovered.
The tunnel started inside a house and was at least 33 feet deep. Egyptian security forces found at least 35 automatic rifles with 115 magazines and three rocket-propelled grenade launchers with 280 grenades according to a report published by Reuters.
Israel had long suspected tunnels such as this one were used to smuggle illegal arms into Gaza. The question is, will militant groups now use these same arms to launch attacks from Gaza or even use some of them against PA security officials.
