Gaza joy as 'gate of hope' open

Martin Chulov, Middle East correspondent
November 28, 2005

AMID joyful and raucous scenes, almost 1600 Palestinians crossed from Gaza into Egypt on Saturday after Israel agreed to hand back the keys to the gates it had strictly controlled for 38 years.

Several thousand more Gaza residents queued yesterday to take advantage of the now Palestinian-controlled crossing at the southern border town of Rafah, in the wake of the landmark agreement.

Thousands more are expected to follow this week as the crossing builds towards an around-the-clock operation.

Many people waved green Palestinian Authority passports, which had been useless since Israeli disengagement in August -- when Gaza's borders were closed -- and of little use for almost four decades prior, when would-be travellers through the Israeli-controlled checkpoints were often subject to interminable delays.

Israel agreed to hand over control of the border earlier this month following the intervention of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Under the deal, the Israeli military can supervise by closed-circuit television all movements of people, and objects -- through European observers -- to anyone it sees as a security risk.

The compromise has only partially allayed Israeli fears that anti-Israeli groups from Egypt, or elsewhere in the Middle East, will attempt to use the newfound freedom to smuggle weapons, or militants, through Rafah, with the aim of attacking the Jewish state.

The head of Egypt's spy service, Omar Sulemain, was a crucial party to negotiations and has provided undertakings to Israel and the US that attempted militant insurgencies would be weeded out.

Late in the week, X-ray machines from the nearby Gaza international airport, which has been closed by Israel for four years, were rushed to the crossing to help with security screening.

A small number of the 500 people a day who still turn up for work at the airport, despite not having dealt with a passenger since 2001, are expected to transfer to the crossing to help.

Banners strung to fences leading to the huge iron gates of Rafah spoke excitedly of the breakthrough.

"This is the gate to Palestinian freedom," said one. Others said, "This is one step towards full sovereignty" and "This is the gate of hope".

However, the Gaza leader of militant group Hamas, which opposes any Israeli supervision of the crossing, warned on Friday: "If the existence of the cameras threatens the freedom of movement, we will make a further stand."

Outside Rafah, under the shade of a bullet-riddled building that once served as a petrol station, Mohammed al-Arubi was waiting with his mother on Friday to cross into Egypt.

Like nearly 100 others, he had arrived one day early, in the hope that the official opening by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas would allow a few travellers through.

Dressed in a red tie for the occasion -- his first trip out of Gaza -- he said: "I am very pleased to be going to Cairo; this is a big moment for all the people here and will help with my mother's health."

Robed Palestinians riding Arabian mares cantered past the gates as hundreds of Palestinians waited for the leader they call Abu Mazen to arrive.

Before an official ribbon-cutting ceremony, Mr Abbas said: "It is a dream come true for us to be here to celebrate the re-opening of the Rafah terminal as a free crossing between us and our brothers in Egypt."

Dedicating the deal to Palestinian "martyrs" who died during the 60-year conflict with Israel, he said it was an important step towards Palestinian statehood.

The US-sponsored deal also laid the groundwork for the re-opening of the airport, the construction of a seaport and easier access through freight crossings for Gaza-based traders.

Trucks at the Karniah goods crossing into Israel, many carrying fresh agricultural produce, have often been delayed for days on security grounds.

The joy at Rafah came as jailed former militant leader Marwan Barghouti won nomination to the Legislative Council for Ramallah, in the first round of Palestinian Authority primaries: elections are due in January.

He won the nomination despite currently serving five life terms for murdering Israelis during the 2001-05 intifada.

Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom was quick to insist yesterday the primary vote would not mean an early release, as Barghouti had "blood on his hands".

Many Palestinians see Barghouti, 46, a member of the Fatah party founded by Yasser Arafat, as a successor to Mr Abbas.

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