Gazans scramble to Egypt in last-minute supply rush

By Will Rasmussen

RAFAH, Egypt (Reuters) - Cranes lifted camels, cows and motorcycles into the Gaza Strip from Egypt on Friday as thousands of Palestinians scrambled to buy supplies in fear that breaches blown in the border would soon be sealed.

Gazan men heaved sheep and mattresses over a concrete wall at one border point. Young men helped women and the elderly scale the wall to buy food or medicine.

"They said on TV that Egyptian security is going to start kicking people out, so I wanted to come as soon as possible. But I think it's impossible for security to do anything. Are they going to kick thousands of people out?" said Gaza teacher Atta Darwish, 47, as he entered Egypt.

He said he needed to buy blood pressure medicine for his mother as well as car tires.

Camouflaged Egyptian forces in riot gear leaned on plastic shields nearby, taking no action to stop Gazans crossing from the Hamas-controlled coastal strip. Militants blew open the border two days ago to defy a blockade Israel says is aimed at countering rocket fire from Gaza.

At another crossing, Egyptian forces tried to use barbed wire and water cannons to keep the Gazans back, but hundreds poured over after militants flattened parts of a fence there. Security sources said the number of openings would make it hard for Egypt to restore control over the border.

LAST MINUTE RUSH

Some Palestinians, like 19-year-old Mohamed Ali, made a last run to buy supplies unavailable or expensive in Gaza. One Palestinian youth brought a ladder and was offering passers-by a chance to use it, for a fee.

"We need milk, sugar and tea," said Ali, 19, of Jabalya as he crossed the border. "We heard it will close today."

Another Gazan, Mahmoud Hamed al-Masri, 23, said he entered Egypt to search for his parents in the coastal city of el-Arish. He feared the border would close before they could return home.

"Maybe it will close and I won't be able to see them. I want to bring them back," he said.

Egypt faces a difficult balancing act with Gaza. It does not want to be seen as aiding Israel in its blockade, but also fears the spread of Islamist influences and the effects of having thousands of undocumented Palestinians in its borders.

President Hosni Mubarak told the el-Osboa newspaper in a statement due to be published on Saturday: "I am confident that those who bought their necessities, whether from Rafah or other neighboring areas, returned again to the Gaza Strip."

And even as Palestinians unloaded trucks with bags of cement, boxes of cigarettes and cans of petrol, some Palestinians said they had finished their business in Egypt.

"We spent all our money," said one 37-year-old Palestinian from Rafah who gave his name simply as Khalil. "They need to shut this crossing and open the official border gate."

(Writing by Cynthia Johnston; Editing by Matthew Tostevin)