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Images from Rafah Crossing August 2009
Hiyam Noir
GAZA - The Rafah Border Crossing (معبر رفح, is an international border crossing between the Palestinian Rafah in Gaza and the Egypt. It was built by the Egyptian government and Israel after the 1979 Egyptian – Israel peace treaty and 1982 after the Israeli withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula. It was managed by the Israel Air Port Authority until it was evacuated by the Israelis on the 11th of September 2005 as part of the Israelis unilateral "disengagement" from Gaza Since then the Rafah border crossing became the mission of the European Border Assistance Mission Rafah ( EUBAM) to monitor the crossing.
Rafah border crossing opened on 25 November 2005 and operated almost daily until the 25th of June 2006. Since then, it has been closed by the Israelis on 86% of days due to what the Israelis claim are “security reasons.” The Rafah border crossing was closed in definite in June 2007, after that Hamas Movement won a grand slam monitored democratic election, that was setting off violent clashes between the rival Fatah and the winner of the latest Palestinian democratic election, the Hamas Movement.
The EU Ambassador to Israel claimed that EUBAM monitors could not return to staff the crossing because the “legal basis for EUBAM”. - The November 2005 agreement on movement and access - specified that the terminal was to be staffed by the Fatah-aligned Force 17, who had already left Gaza Strip. Hamas Security Forces took over the official administration and control of the public security on Gaza Strip.
In January 23, 2008, Palestinian resistance in Gaza demolished the wall, and breached the Rafah border to Egypt. Several hundred thousand hungry and desperate Gazan’s entered Egypt, to bring their wounded and sick to hospital and to buy medicine,food and other supplies..
On December 27, 2008, Egypt opened the crossing for the thousands of wounded Palestinians after that the Israeli Cast Lead Operation (Massacre) in its violent outburst, had killed and wounded several hundreds of Palestinians, (members of Gaza police-force, resistense fighters,entire families including the children) . In the Israeli war on the already suffering, miserable and agonized Gaza Palestinians, this latest Israeli criminal assault. ( evidence have been collected and further international investigations are ongoing, to bring the warcriminals to court ) the Israelis killed more than 1.400, and wounded over 5.000 Gaza residents.
Gaza residents are still today, confined in the largest prison on the planet..People are standing by the Rafah crossing terminal under the hot sun,many without drinking water, waiting to cross the border in to, or out from.Gaza. And after Israeli troops ( I call then state terrorists ) completed their (official ) withdrawal from Gaza on January 21,almost seven months ago, the Gaza Strip still look like a war zone.
Gaza infrastructure is severely destroyed from thousands of Israeli bombs and missiles.Official and residential buildings, private homes and roads are in rubble.There is no cement to be found, on Gaza Strip, there is shortage of everything, building material, also food and clean drinking water and there are still electricity shortage in most of the areas. The world is watching stunned, by the evil, in astonishment,can not understand why the Gaza borders to the outside world, are still closed.
Images from Rafah Crossing August 2009
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