Gaza wall bombed, hundreds enter Egypt: Witnesses

GAZA CITY: Hundreds of Gazans poured into Egypt on Wednesday after militants set off at least five explosions along the walled-off border of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, witnesses said.
       
The witnesses added that Egyptian security forces had not yet intervened, but earlier an Egyptian security source said that troops along the border were on full alert following the bombings.
       
"We are getting reinforcements ready, just in case" the source said.
       
The forced entry came just hours after a tense stand-off at the closed Rafah border crossing, where gunfire erupted after a group of Hamas demonstrators forced their way across.
       
The Gazans, most of them women, were detained by Egyptian troops but released after the protest was dispersed by baton-wielding Hamas-run police.
       
They had been protesting a months-long Israeli blockade of the impoverished territory that was tightened on Thursday to a full-scale lockdown, with Israel halting all fuel shipments and even the entry of humanitarian aid.
       
The Hamas-run government in Gaza has repeatedly called on Egypt to open its border to relieve the Israeli blockade, which is aimed at halting rocket and mortar fire from the territory on nearby Israeli communities.
       
On Tuesday Israel allowed in shipments of cooking gas and fuel to power Gaza's sole power station, which ground to a halt Sunday night plunging much of Gaza City into darkness and prompting fears of a humanitarian crisis.
       
But the Palestinians have demanded a complete end to the siege amid widespread warnings of a humanitarian crisis.