Civilians stream through breach in Egypt border wall

Palestinian militants punched a new hole in a border wall between Gaza and Egypt yesterday and hundreds of civilians streamed across, defying efforts by official to plug gaps in the frontier, witnesses said.

Palestinian police stood by as about 50 gunmen from Hamas and the Palestinian Resistance Committees rammed a dump truck into the cement wall, knocking down several large slabs.

The incident came hours after the Palestinian Authority pledged to take steps to shut the Gaza frontier, breached after Israel handed over its former Jewish settlements in southern Gaza to the Palestinians this week.

Struggling to impose order after the Israeli withdrawal, the Palestinian Authority acknowledged some light arms had been smuggled into Gaza and said the border would be shut today.

Israeli media reports said the Army may move troops to buffer the long-quiet border with Egypt, alarmed that Palestinian militants might find it easier to bring in weapons without an Israeli military presence on the border.

Israel "cannot accept a continued situation where the border will be entirely porous. What is happening in Gaza in recent days is complete anarchy," said Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom.

Egypt has promised to patrol the 12km border. Israel has said it wants to control Palestinian movement there but the Palestinians have rejected any Israeli role.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, visiting the southern border town of Rafah, said he gave security forces orders to prevent further border infiltrations.

He acknowledged that "mistakes had happened because of joy" over Israel's departure, but said the Palestinians hoped to restore order to the territory.

- Reuters