Hamas has gained from border breach, analysts say

By Mohammed Assadi

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Hamas's breach of a Gaza-Egypt border wall that has enabled besieged Gazans to break through Israel's blockade of the coastal enclave has boosted the Islamist group's popularity, Palestinian analysts say.

Tens of thousands of Gazans flooded through the destroyed metal border wall into nearby Egyptian towns for a shopping spree after Israel tightened its blockade of the Gaza Strip and briefly halted food and fuel deliveries.

Analysts say any future arrangements for the Gaza-Egypt border would have to include Hamas, which routed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah forces and seized control of the coastal territory in June.

The Rafah border terminal, once Gaza's main avenue to the outside world, has been largely closed since Hamas took control there, forcing the departure of European monitors and Abbas's presidential guards, who oversaw through traffic.

Palestinian columnist Samih Shabib wrote in the pro-Fatah al-Ayyam daily that the reopening of the Rafah terminal "will be impossible to accomplish without the participation of all concerned parties, including Hamas."

Analysts believe the fall of the Rafah border wall also punched a hole in the U.S.-backed campaign to reduce Hamas's influence and strengthen Abbas.

Hamas had accused Abbas's government of colluding with Israel's Gaza blockade so that residents would rise up against Hamas's rule. Abbas's government denies the accusation.

Israel said it tightened its Gaza blockade last week in an effort to counter cross-border rocket fire. Fuel and aid supplies were partially restored after an international outcry.