Hamas drags away spikes used to reseal Egypt's border

RAFAH, Gaza Strip - Hamas members yesterday hauled away metal spikes that Egyptian soldiers had placed at sections of the Gaza-Egypt border to prevent vehicles from Gaza from entering Egyptian territory.

Egyptian border guards did not intervene.

It was another act of defiance by Hamas against Egypt's attempts to reseal the frontier after they breached a wall that had kept Gazans from entering Egyptian territory.

When sections of the wall were toppled, thousands of Gazans weary of being penned in by Israel on one side and Egypt on the other rushed into Egypt to buy goods that had become scarce inside Gaza because of the blockade and to visit relatives.

The Jan. 23 border breach came several days after Israel imposed its toughest embargo yet on Gaza, with Egyptian acquiescence, in response to a rocket barrage from Gaza on Israeli border towns.

Both Israel and Egypt blockaded Gaza after the territory was taken over by the Islamic extremist group Hamas seven months ago.

Gaza's Hamas rulers now want a role in regulating the border with Egypt, a demand rejected this week by Egypt and by Hamas' rival, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Abbas' forces were ousted from Gaza by Hamas last year, and his writ now runs only in the West Bank.

The Hamas prime minister in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, told a local newspaper yesterday that he would not allow the border to be resealed.

Yesterday, about 600 Hamas supporters rallied about 100 yards from the nearest Egyptian border post. One banner read: "Egypt and Palestine are one people, not two." A protester shouted, "Keep the border open."

Some demonstrators jumped over metal barriers into Egypt, raising Hamas flags there.

Hamas members dragged away metal spikes placed at the main breach in the seven-mile-long border earlier in the day by Egyptian soldiers in an attempt to block vehicles.

The soldiers, who have been avoiding confrontation with Hamas, continued to allow pedestrians to cross over freely.

Several hours after the spikes were removed, dozens of vehicles were lined up on either side of the frontier, trying to negotiate their way through a narrow, muddy breach.

Egyptian security forces, meanwhile, were looking for four Palestinians yesterday who had slipped into the country from Gaza and were suspected of planning suicide attacks against resorts in the Sinai peninsula, a local security official said.