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Bombs Boom Over Egypt's Border With Gaza
January 05, 2009 2:22 PM
By LAMA HASAN, ABC News, Egypt
As we waited at a checkpoint early this morning to get into Rafah, the border crossing with Gaza on the Egyptian side, we heard a series of thunderous explosions from the air.
Even though we were about eight miles from the border, the thump of the airstrikes was loud and clear.
Police at the checkpoint would not allow any journalists in, citing safety as their reason. They told us it was far too dangerous for us to be near the border. So, we waited to enter but to no avail.
A doctor from the Doctors for Peace group told me they reached the border earlier today but were denied entry into Gaza. They told us that the aid from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and various Islamic charities was still waiting to get through.
Later, a trickle of that much-needed aid began crossing into Gaza.
On Sunday, after the ground invasion began, none of the wounded were allowed out. Today at least seven so far have been ferried out to receieve emergency medical care in Egypt. Some of them had missing limbs.
Since we've been here the F16s that dot the winter sky have been bombing closer and closer to the border with Egypt.
The reason lies deep beneath the ground.
A network of tunnels crisscross underneath the border and is used by Hamas to smuggle everything from food to fuel and weapons. This underground network is Hamas’ lifeline and Israel says it wants to cut off this hidden supply route once and for all.
January 5, 2009 in Lama Hasan | Permalink | User Comments (0)
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