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One dead in Gaza-Egypt shooting | One dead in Gaza-Egypt shooting |
(about 4 hours later) | |
At least one Palestinian has been killed by gunfire that broke out during clashes between Egyptian police and Gazan protestors at the Rafah crossing. | |
Several Palestinians and 38 Egyptian police were injured in the fighting. | |
The shooting erupted at the border crossing one day after it was re-sealed by Egypt. | |
Palestinian militants blasted holes in the border wall last month. Tens of thousands of people have since poured across from the blockaded Gaza Strip. | |
The final gap in the border was closed on Sunday, with thousands of Gazans still on the wrong side. | |
Live fire | Live fire |
Security was tightened further on Monday, with Egyptian police no longer allowing Palestinians stranded in Egypt to return home. | |
As anger grew during the day, a crowd of Palestinian youths started to pelt an Egyptian border command post with stones. | |
Shooting erupted after Palestinians pelted Egyptian police with stones | |
Egyptian forces responded with tear gas, before gunfire erupted from both sides of the border. | |
It remains unclear who fired first. | |
Nor is it clear whether the gunmen on the Palestinian side were from Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip. | |
The firefight erupted around dusk, and occasional gunshots could still be heard after nightfall. | |
Dangerous precedent | |
Tensions in the area have been high for nearly two weeks, with sporadic bursts of violence, says the BBC's Ian Pannell in Cairo. | |
But Monday's violence was the most serious incident of its kind between the two sides, and sets a dangerous precedent, our correspondent says. | |
Islamist Hamas militants blasted open the border on 23 January, to allow Palestinians to obtain supplies and defy an Israeli blockade of the coastal territory. | Islamist Hamas militants blasted open the border on 23 January, to allow Palestinians to obtain supplies and defy an Israeli blockade of the coastal territory. |
The blockade came after an increase in militant rocket attacks against Israeli territory. | The blockade came after an increase in militant rocket attacks against Israeli territory. |
class="" href="either url here">Gaza crisis timeline | |
In Israel on Monday, a woman was killed in a suicide attack carried out by militants from Gaza. | |
The bomber, reportedly a member of the militant al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, blew up his explosives at a shopping centre in the southern town of Dimona. | |
It was the first such attack in over a year, escalating fears in Israel that Gaza-based militants could take advantage of the Rafah crossing chaos to infiltrate Israel via its long and porous desert border with Egypt. | |
Meanwhile, Amer Qarmoot, a leading member of another Palestinian militant group, was killed in an Israeli air attack in northern Gaza. | |
The Popular Resistance Committee member died when a missile hit his car in the town of Beit Lahiya. Two other people were injured. |