CAIRO: Israel conducted another aerial strike aimed at the tunnels beneath the Egypt-Gaza border at the town of Rafah in the early hours of Wednesday.
Sources in the area said that the bombings began at 2:15 am on Wednesday and that there were three strikes. No one was injured on the Egyptian side of Rafah.
The bombings did not lead to the shutdown of the Rafah border crossing, where aid convoys were still being transported into Gaza and a trickle of wounded Palestinians made the opposite trip to seek treatment in Egypt.
However, on Wednesday a group of independent, opposition and Muslim Brotherhood MPs, including Saad Aboud, head of the Karama Party and Brotherhood MP Hamdy Hassan were prohibited from entering Gaza through the crossing.
Additionally, a delegation from the Arab parliament, as well as a group of 36 Jordanian engineers, were prevented from entering the Gaza Strip through the crossing.
On Tuesday, Egypt warned EU countries against proposals by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to send ships to patrol Gaza’s coastal waters to prevent arms smuggling by sea, indicating that it would have an adverse effect on European relations with Arab countries.
Speaking after a meeting with EU policy chief Javier Solana, Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said, “In my discussions with European foreign ministers yesterday, I warned them and said: You must understand Arab and Muslim feelings . I urge you to look and consider this … because it might have consequences in Palestinian and Arab relations with you.
Aboul Gheit said the responsibility of patrolling these coastal waters was Israel’s. Germany announced that it had sent six security experts to Egypt to help address security concerns regarding the border.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said that “effectively fighting weapons smuggling is one of the key questions for a lasting truce and the opening of the borders.
