Spontaneous popular action on the part of Palestinians in Gaza left all political players reeling last week, sparking an influx of an estimated 700,000 Palestinians -- near half of the Gaza Strip population -- into the Egyptian Sinai, desperate for food, fuel, medical supplies and other basic necessities of life. Can the genie be put back in the bottle? And should it? Israel's Gaza mess The crisis created by Israel's blockade of Gaza is unlikely to go away anytime soon, writes Dina Ezzat "What will happen next? Nobody is telling us anything. We had a few days of freedom, but now we are going back to our prison," said Randa, a 26- year-old Palestinian woman, as she tried to climb a one metre high ladder over the wall separating Egypt and Israeli-occupied Gaza. Speaking to Al-Ahram Weekly late Friday evening, Randa was in pain -- to the point of tears. She was carrying her nine-month-old son with one arm and around 20 kilos of groceries she bought in Arish with the other. Following were her three young daughters, all primary school age, each carrying a bag as heavy. Several wooden ladders lined both sides of the wall in Rafah, set there for women, children and the elderly. As for the men, they were simply jumping the wall in endless waves while hundreds of Egyptian border guards and riot police kept watch. Randa and her daughters were among what is estimated to be some 700,000 Palestinians who crossed the Egypt-Gaza border, often more than once, in havoc but happiness, starting late last week after Palestinian resistance fighters blew five big holes in the separating wall, effectively ending the siege imposed by Israel that has been condemned by the European Union and international agencies as illegal collective punishment. Ostensibly in retaliation for the firing of Qassam rockets at Israeli settlements, the Israeli siege of the densely populated and economically devastated Strip entailed an embargo on fuel, starving Gaza's sole power station and plunging the population into darkness, as well as almost all other basic supplies. In the absence of prompt relief -- or even promises of help -- and in light of Egypt's reluctance to unilaterally intervene, Palestinians simply broke into Egypt -- or broke out of Gaza -- with what became by necessity, because of the sheer numbers involved, Cairo's tacit acceptance. As those numbers grew, Egypt's reasons to worry multiplied. Officials say they were concerned for the safety of the Palestinians, but the welfare of residents in Egyptian Rafah and Arish was clearly paramount in their minds. "It is true that Palestinians were happy to cross the border and buy basic supplies that they could not otherwise get, and that the merchants of Rafah and Arish were very happy with the business boom, but there were incidents of clashes, reportedly over prices among other things," commented one Arish security official. "We had to pre-empt any major crisis," he added. The concerns of Egyptian authorities ran deeper still than preventing disturbances. That such huge numbers were crossing into Egypt, after no security checks whatsoever, was alarming to security officials. "No one has any idea who is coming in and who was going out; whether or not these people are smuggling arms and explosives, and against whom and when they could use such explosives," commented one official. Egyptian authorities were particularly sensitive about possible attacks against US or Israeli targets in Egypt by angry Islamist militants. While opposed, sources say, to Israel's siege on Gaza, Egypt "is not interested" in locking horns with Israel in the case attacks launched against it -- or its interests -- from within Egypt. Egypt was also worried for its image. "The fact that we allowed the Palestinians in, after they broke through, and refused to force them out, was well-appreciated in Egypt and across the Arab world," the official said. He added, however, that "Egypt's image as a strong central state capable of firmly controlling its borders has been questioned." That Palestinians assaulted close to 40 Egyptian border guards was annoying to the Egyptian authorities that had instructed their forces not to react to "Palestinian provocations". A statement made by a government official Friday suggesting that the border would be sealed gradually made matters worse, with Palestinians doubling and tripling the commodities they were stocking up on. As a result of the rush, prices went higher. "We have no choice. We are buying now with every pound we have because we do not know what will happen next," said Randa. She added, "the problem is that it is a matter of time before this stock is used up and we will again be faced with the same problem." Egyptian officials say they are aware that the siege imposed by Israel on Gaza has to be ameliorated by the operation of the Rafah crossing point, "somehow". Since 2005, in the wake of Israel's "disengagement" from Gaza, the Rafah crossing point has been operated according to an agreement brokered by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Under its terms, the Palestinian Authority (PA), in cooperation with EU monitors and overseen by Israel, was in charge of the Palestinian side, Egypt in charge of the other. The sailing was never smooth. Israel often warned the EU monitors of alleged security threats, often leading to the closure of the crossing point. And since the Hamas takeover of Gaza last June, the border has been all but completely sealed, given the withdrawal of EU monitors and the absence of the PA. Today, officials say, Egypt is willing to work with the Europeans, Israelis and the PA to revive the 2005 agreement. An Arab foreign ministers meeting in Cairo Sunday supported this option, also called for by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. This, however, was not what Hamas had in mind. Hamas officials in Gaza consider the 2005 border agreement annulled and that a new agreement needs to be formulated. Hamas, they add, needs to be part of this new agreement, even if PA elements remain included. Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri reacted angrily to Cairo's endorsement of the 2005 agreement, calling it an "Israeli- led international conspiracy with the participation of some regional parties." "We tell all parties that we will not allow the return of old conditions at the crossing," Abu Zuhri said. For its part, officials affirm, Egypt cannot allow the situation at Rafah to continue unchecked pending the conclusion of a new agreement all would sign on to. Measures have already been taken to reduce the Palestinian influx into Rafah. Some commodities are being denied access into Arish and Rafah, forcing stores to close. Moreover, Egypt has secured the support of Hamas leaders to cooperate in putting an end to the inundation. For the past few days, Egyptian guard forces and Hamas's executive forces tacitly coordinated to somewhat manage the situation at the border. "When Egyptian security forces were being stoned by angry and emotional Palestinians, it was us who were keeping the Palestinians back, because the Egyptians were very careful not to retaliate," an executive force guard told the Weekly. This Hamas-Egypt cooperation is likely to expand over the coming weeks as Egypt tries to deal with what some officials qualified as "the mess that Israel made in Gaza". In view of Cairo's dislike of Hamas, this new situation is not one that Egyptian officials are particularly happy about. In the words of one, however, it is "inescapable if we want to control the current situation and avoid its reoccurrence in the near future". Egyptian authorities affirm unequivocally that under no circumstances would cooperation with Hamas encourage Egypt to take administrative control of Gaza, as some Israeli officials suggested recently. Deputy Defence Minister Matan Vilnai said this week that Israel hoped Egypt would keep its border with Gaza open, allowing Israel to permanently seal off its own crossings. "This is not a scenario that we should resist; rather the opposite," commented left-wing commentator Nabil Zaki in an article in the daily Al-Akhbar. According to Zaki, retaking administrative control is "the only way" of restoring calm to Gaza and sparing Egypt episodes such as those of last week. "Hamas will never give Gaza back to the PA and Israel will never let Hamas live in peace in Gaza, and the confrontations will keep going on, and so will the closures and maybe even the breaches into Egyptian territories," Zaki said. Egyptian officials categorically reject the proposition. "Gaza is part of the Palestinian territories. It is part of the future Palestinian state. Egypt is not getting involved in its administration. This was made clear to all parties concerned," commented one Egyptian source on condition of anonymity. According to this source, if Egypt were to take administrative control of Gaza it would effectively relieve Israel of its responsibilities as an occupying power. "This is not something that we will do. This would be replacing one mess with another," he added. Meanwhile, Egypt is rebuilding the damaged wall dividing the Egyptian-Palestinian borders. It is also examining options as to how to re-operate the Rafah crossing. Officials promise they will keep a good flow of humanitarian aid going and try to convince Israel to end its siege. Moreover, Egypt will try to broker a deal to attain truce between Hamas and Israel. "These are our short-term objectives," said one Egyptian source. As for the long-term objectives, he added, "we have to contain the political crisis between Hamas and the PA and pursue Palestinian-Israeli peace talks." For the likes of Randa, all such considerations are "irrelevant". "I don't think I will live long enough to see independence. I know we are doomed to live under occupation until we free our land by our own hands. We just want some dignity. We are humans, and nothing less," she said. Palestinian children carry Egyptian and Palestinian flags in the Gaza Strip border area of the divided town of Rafah, during a demonstration they staged to "thank Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak" for allowing the free flow of Palestinians into Egyptian Rafah
