War Crimes in Gaza on the Other Side of the Rafah Border Crossing

On Saturday (Jan. 10, 2009) the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing point was lined with physicians and surgeons from across the world who were anxiously awaiting authorization to enter the besieged Gaza Strip. American jet fighters (primarily F-16s & F-15s) in service of the Israeli Air Force were conducting brutal bombing and espionage sorties along the Egyptian-Gazan border.

Having been stranded on the Egyptian side of Rafah for five whole days, 15 Arab physicians (11 Egyptians, three Jordanians, and one Belgian) were finally granted permission, from Egyptian authorities, to enter the Gaza Strip for the provision of medical and humanitarian assistance; while numerous other medical teams (from Indonesia, Turkey, and Greece) remained stranded on the Egyptian side of Rafah.

A volunteer doctor from an Indonesian humanitarian NGO named Mer-C said "we've being attempting to get authorization to enter Gaza for three days now, but they just won't let us through. I really don't know why. We just want to get our supplies and doctors through to the hospitals in Gaza. The hospitals and doctors in Gaza need all the help they can get inside there. We'll keep on trying until they finally let us through."

Truckloads of medical and humanitarian supplies from Morocco, Algeria, and Libya were allowed in; while ambulances rushed maimed and wounded Palestinians into Egypt through the Rafah border crossing. Egyptian donations (usually collected and delivered by NGOs and ordinary citizens) are miniscule in comparison to those provided by the governments of Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Libya.

Speaking to journalists inside the Rafah crossing point Dr. Gilbert Mads, a German volunteer, said that "the Israelis have turned Gaza into something more inhuman than the Warsaw Ghetto. Have these people not learned from history?"

The doctor added "the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have become the personification of human dignity; while all the other states of the world are working against this human dignity. Why is it that medical supplies and doctors are being held-up on this side of the border? The hospitals in Gaza are critically under-supplied and Palestinian doctors are working there without electricity, without stretchers, without the most basic of medical equipment. These doctors are the most innovative and resourceful doctors I have ever seen. They use their cell phones to provide lighting for surgical operations, and big metal plates instead of stretchers. It is these Palestinian doctors who are the real heroes."

Meanwhile IAF jets were actively firing at targets near the Rafah border crossing with the latest and most technically advanced weaponry from the United States. Phosphorous bomblets, missiles, and massive bombs were being fired just a few hundred meters away from the Egyptian border. An Israeli surveillance and espionage blimp hovered over a watchtower along the Egyptian-Gazan border while small unmanned spy-planes buzzed back and forth over the besieged territory.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier arrived at the Rafah border crossing (around 5pm) to assess the crisis in Gaza. Arriving in a heavily guarded motorcade the German foreign minister hung around for around one hour - speaking with officials and journalists. The minister is pressuring security officials in Egypt to enhance their anti-smuggling efforts along its border with Gaza - through the destruction of tunnels and the deployment of international "peace-keeping" forces there.

Although Steinmeier came to Rafah in order to promote the Egyptian-Israeli siege of the Gaza Strip, his arrival was “welcomed” with more Israeli bombs and missiles. Just minutes before his arrival Israeli fighter jets fired missiles along the Rafah border. Shortly after the minister had entered the crossing point a massive bomb exploded just a few hundred meters away, violently shaking the customs building in which he was.

Egyptian authorities are said to have rejected the idea of deploying international troops along the border with Gaza - since this "would infringe upon Egypt's sovereignty." Naturally the Egyptian government cares neither about Gaza's sovereignty nor about the territorial integrity of Palestine.

Mubarak's Egypt is attempting to portray itself as the mediator between Hamas and Fatah, when in fact it only speaks in support of Fatah, Zionist war crimes, and American imperialism.

Down with the pro-Zionist Mubarak Regime!