Announcement of the Egypt it will open a crossing border with the Gaza Strip key Palestinian in the days which sparked concerns in Israel Friday and revealed how the upheavals in the Arab world moves the Mideast conflict.
Under former President Hosni Mubarak, Egypt restricts the movement of persons and goods by the Rafah crossing in keeping a blockade that it imposed in Gaza with Israel. The restrictions were intended to weaken activists of Hamas rule the Gaza Strip, and including the Egypt and Israel have seen, until recently, as a common enemy.
After the overthrow of Mubarak by a popular uprising in February, Egypt new Transitional Cabinet and military Council the power to take a cooler line towards Israel and the Egypt to the United States has also been warming ties with the enemies of Israelmainly Hamas and its primary funder of fondsIran.
New Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Egypt, Nabil al-Araby, said Thursday that the closure was at its end, the appeal of the decision to close the passage at level "a disgusting question" in an interview with the Al-Jazeera Arab satellite channel.
Al-Araby, stated that the crossing would be opened "in the coming days."
Israeli officials would not comment publicly on Friday, but Israel is "troubled by recent developments in Egypt," an official of the Israeli Government said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because no there was no official comment.
Israel views Gaza blockade as essential to reduce the flow of weapons and militants in the territory, where Palestinian squadrons regularly launch rockets on Israeli towns, and to put pressure on Hamas.
"In the past, despite the efforts made by the Egyptian Government, Hamas has managed to build a formidable military machine." "If these efforts were to stop, how much easier would be that Hamas to build a terrorist military machine," said the official.
The decision seems to be related to the announcement surprised one day earlier that the two rival Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah, had signed a reconciliation agreement negotiated by the Egypt. The agreement should be signed on Wednesday in Cairo, spokesman for the Palestinian Authority Nabil Abu Rdeneh, said Friday. This is to show the way towards a transitional unity Government and elections.
This announcement was also greeted with dismay in Israel, which says that he has excluded any chance of peace talks with a Palestinian Government which includes Hamas activists. Hamas, which rejects the peace talks and is committed to the destruction of Israel, is considered a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States, the European Union and other.
The announcement on the border post also seemed to reflect responsiveness by the new military leaders of the Egypt to the hostile street sense Israel and the United States. A recent survey showed that more than half of the Egyptians favor cancellation 1979 peace treaty with Israel.
The number of travellers crossing at Rafah is limited to approximately 300 per day and is subject to the Egyptian security clearance which is often withdrawn. The other passages available Gaza 1.5 million people are Israel and are closed with a few exceptions, such as medical emergency cases. Israel allows goods to Gaza with restrictions on building materials, that it could be used by militants.
