When "this albatross is removed from our necks (Israel)," you will find out the true target of Hamas/Moslem Brotherhood et al: you.

What is the # of gays who have been executed in Iran?

What happens to a woman who wears shorts in public under Sharia?

Why does Ayman al-Zawahiri say Spain already belongs to Islam as much as Israel?

Jake D, NY, US

As you can read on CNN, Egypt is sealing the border again. I am sure the terrorist sympathizers commenting here will be able to assign the blame to Israel. :)

Decent Person, Hagen, Germany

Why would Egypt not want those people in their country is beyond me. After all, they are all Muslim brothers and everyone knows that Islam is the 'religion of peace'...

Rex Baker, Weirton, WV

Sun Tzu said "When you surround an army, leave an outlet free. Do not press a desperate foe too hard."

SONSI, kai, Japan

I am sick of reading posters who claim that Gaza and other land annexed by Israel is stolen. If you take war to another country - historically you must be prepared to lose yours.

David Smith, Stourbridge, UK

350,000 escape the Gaza concentration camp.
.
Truly,... the great escape. My best wishes to them.

John, Hamilton,

Stop the palestinian tragi-comedy and return to pre-1967 sanity at once for the sake of peace.
It is evident Gazans were happier when annexed by Egypt.
How can Egypt betray their Arab brothers like this? Take them back!

Moe Pease, Detroit, USA Mivchigan

Hypocracy is evident. A wall is gone. Individuals move towards resources.

What is the ocam's razor quotient?

What will this freedom evoke on the part of the (ruling) Hammas?

Responcibilty?

VONBLOG, N. Hollywood, CA, usa

Whatever has happened, I'm sure must be America's fault. That's all I know! It had to be America that did it!

Willie, York,

david powell: yeah hamas shoots a few crude rockets that may injure a few israelis.. but they don't hold a candle to the apache helicopters shooting tomahawk missiles.. or the f-16s dropping laser guided bombs..

I never hear about Hamas forces camping out in Jerusalem sniping school children. The Israeli's idea of peace is to imprison an entire people and starve them to death. Just take a look at any humanitarian group's analysis of the situation, or human rights watch. It is really disgusting... Apartheid is a terrible thing.

arthur, seattle, usa/wa

What a lot of boring posters here.
You are either an anti-semite or not.
Simple really.

Victor M., Malaga, Spain

Well, well...As the pendulum swings...
Gaza is returning home to Mother Egypt.
What an opportune time for for Israel, if it is wise,
to seal it's border with Gaza,
and permanently end all fuel, electricity, humanitarian aid,
water, food, etc, so that Gaza's Arab and Muslim co-religionist neighbour can now supply the essentials, rather than the
non-recognized Jewish State Hamas is committed to destroy.

Hamas has opened the wall to Israel's salvation!

Alan Newman, Montreal, Canada

Say hello to future...

Peter Vernunft, Berlin, Germany

Well, finally some good news - as for the rockets - you cant steal someone's land and then expect them to just sit back and do absolutely nothing about it, and when they do call them "terrorists" and try to starve them into submission. ... err in fact you can but it's just not right.

YsL, Lausanne, Switz.

That's Great! Now lets get on with building a wall between Mexico and the U.S.A.

FreeMan, Fairbanks,

I am glad they cut down that wall. Soon the other walls will be cut and then Israel will have bigger problems.

You can only cage and deprive people of their human rights for so long.

As an American citizen I dream of the day this albatross is removed from our necks (Israel).

David Dee, Ocala, Florida, USA

Brilliant, absolutely brilliant!!

Mark Sheppard, Retford, UK

How nice to see Gaza return to Egypt just like in the United Nations partition agreement of '47.

I guess they got it right the first time.

Michael Plunkett, New York, New York

This underlines the "lie" that Israel has put Gaza under siege as of course Gaza does not only border Israel it also has a border with Egypt. And Egypt also supplies power to Gaza. One might ask, why does Egypt want to keep the Gazans out?

Sophira, London, UK

Well, Well! I see Ulrich Meinhoff has resurficed in Berlin.
Murderous Hamas and unreconstructed 60's anarchists, international socialists, Trotskyits etc will delight at this second coming.
I anxiously await Baader.

abritincanada, Calgary,

Well done Egypt for being human and shame on Mr Abbas and his Cabinet

mohsen, malaga, spain

If I had to live under Hamas, I would break down walls too. Anything to get out. Just like the Mexicans do anything to get out of Mexico, the East Germans did anythng to get out of East Germany and the Cubans will do almost anything to get out of Cuba. So the story goes. Its time these people wake up and find a way to live peacefully with their neighbors.

Geo, Bellingham, WA

I am now of the opinion that we should just let the middle east sort itself out. If groups like Hamas did not get media coverage in the west and the middle east then they would not do terrorist acts unless they really had to. These terrorist groups would fall without the media as a weapon and quite likely not get into power. Their acts instead just causing those who are affected by their acts to hate them.

James, Leicester, UK

The narrative we keep seeing in these comments, that Israel has some how forced the poor Egyptians into patrolling the border does not make sense - how could they force them? It sounds like an excuse.

Josh, San Francisco, CA

Good Luck to them all

I hope Egypt realises the trade it can gain

And lets it flourish

Nicholas Iles, Oswestry, United Kingdom

Nobody mentions the rockets the Hamas types in Gaza shoot into Israel every day. The Hamas idea of "peace" is "Let's be able to shoot at people and no one be able to do anything about it." That's not how the world works and it shouldn't be made so for the benefit of Hamas.

David Powell, Ocean City, New Jersey USA

With the border wall down, I wonder if this is going to lead to the defacto absorbtion of Gaza by Eqypt.

How long with Eqypt allow unregulated crossings into their country? In the long term, Eqypt is either going to have to rebuild the wall, put more troops on the border to control the flow or take over Gaza. I don't see how the wall could be rebuilt without Egyption Security Forces. Isreal doesn't have access to it anymore.

I personally think the Gazans would be better off as part of Eqypt and Isreal would be better off if Eqypt was responsible for the security in Gaza.

Noah, San Diego, USA

Bravo to Hamas! Lets see when that other wall falls and Palestinians can finally return to their rightful home.

All the mean spirited comments by Israelis and their supporters on this site in face of this pure moment of joy and liberation just show what the world is up against in finally bringing justice to Palestine.

Ulrich, Berlin, Germany

Many different opinions. To me: who was to young to see what the downfall of the Berlin wall meant can see the similarity of that day.

Ali, stockport,

Can anyone comment how safe it is in Egypt with this fence down? Honest comments, please.

ann, New Orleans, USA

Israel defeated in Lebanon, then Gaza, then Lebanon again, now Gaza again. Quite soon, the apartheid will collapse and the people will be going back to their homes after 60 years.

Andy Dyer, London, UK,

TV's and mobile phones. Golly, do you suppose those folks want to know what's going on outside Gaza? Communication is NOT a luxury.

Jeff Moses, MINNEAPOLIS, MN, USA

The level of racism about Arabs from the Israeli supporters in these comments shows who the real antisemites in the Palestine conflict are. This wall was erected by Israel and funded by the US who conspired with the European governments to bribe and blackmail the neighboring states into complicity. The lies of zionists never ceases to amaze. An Arab government which doesn't accept the mass transportation of Jews to Israel is at immediate risk of bombing or worse. See Lebanon and Syria..

The europeans chased the jewish people out of europe yet they hate the Arabs? How does that work again? Arabs can wait - this isn't the first time Jerusalem has been occupied. Like all the others the Palestinian people will prevail. Old white men can draw as many maps as they like calling Palestine Lebanan, Jordan or Egypt, that post WW1 map is what the ignorant up thread are referring to, but in the end the people on the ground will prevail. The Palestinians have the numbers.

Phil, Auckland,

Now the Egyptians can put up with homicide bombs, terror and Hamas. I hope Israel puts up a bigger wall now.

david, chicago, IL

I'm with Chris. I had no idea there was a wall between Gaza and Egypt. Did anyone else?

paul, warkworth, ont

A one state solution is in order.... Palestine.

Brad Bristol, Nampa , Idaho

I tend to think that if I was "imprisoned" and "repressed" I would keep on going rather than buying a TV and coming back.

Marty, Atlanta, Ga

The Egyptians build a wall to keep Palestinians out, and no one says a word. Other Arab nations refuse to allow Palestinians to migrate and take out citizenship, and no one says a word. The Palestinians break down the wall keeping them out of Egypt, and the world blames Israel. The world sucks. I am sick and tired of Antisemitism.

Judy , Winnipeg, Canada

The Egyptians built a wall and keep the border closed because Israel and its lobby hold US aid to Egypt hostage to it serving its dictates. One wall down, many more to go.

Shlomo Dror, London, UK

I wonder if Israel police would react with the same restraint if the wall between Israel and the Gaza was blown up.
Henry Quinlan

henry quinlan, wareham, ma

Well done palistanians - keep it up. The dreadful behaviour of the US backed Israel will at some time end although in the meantime we have the international disgrace of watching Israel prescribe what the Palastinians can and cannot do. Let us all remember that Israel was established on terrorist principles with the later prime minister of Israel one of the main terrorists who bombed British soldiers in the King David Hotel. Let Isrrael never have the audacity to call others terrorists, especially as that specific terminology is used by Israel to comdemn the Palistinians live and earn their daily bread in their own land while illegal Israeli settlements are built on their land. Many of us all over the world sympathise with the Palistinians plight and I only hope that they are aware of this even though our leaders unfortunately follow George Bush's demands. Have hope - he will be gone soon, and gone too will be the economic dominance of the US in the not so distant future.

d davies, cardiff, Wales

Wow

The Gaza Ghetto wall has fallen.

Bill, Nassau, Bahamas

At last a piece of good news from Gaza. I sincerely hope they blow up the remaining barriers in this open air prison. I find it hard to understand why Israel of all countries can create 1940’s Warsaw all over again. How’s that peace process coming along Mr Blair? Got time to squeeze in some humanity inbetween your consultant’s role at JP Morgan?

Charles Levi, London, UK

With the US being the only country in the world supporting Israel (presumably as its Middle Eastern base) have they not considered that a solution to the middle east problem may lay in the close relationship between the US and Israel. That is move Israel to Capital Hill and see how the residents of Washington like to see their new residents building new settlments on the hill while simultaneously building a wall through the centre of washington so Washingtonians cannot get to the Capital hill side of the city. Of course - barriers to stop travel to work, hospitals etc would be errected at checkpoints and from time to tim and at will fuel and electricity will be cut off. But hey - the new Israeli's were only doing this for security for their new territory.
Walt Disney could do a great replica of old Israel - and since most economic support comes from the US - who would know the difference.

d davies, cardiff, Wales

Why have we never heard of the Egyptian fence from our media before?

Josh, south central, wisconsin

Hello C
That will really solve the problem - how wise and insightful of you!!!!! It must be nice to sit on the beach and think of these terrific solutions.

Joseph Brannock, Dublin, Ireland

This is one for the underdogs. The Israelis have been carrying out and ethnic cleansing of Palestine since 1948 by forcing native Palestinians to leave their land and encouraging immigration by European Jews to take their place. Gaza and the West Bank are just huge prisons created by Israel to keep the Palestinians down and backward. The Palestinians have my sympathy.

BW, London, UK

Good for them. Bring all walls down.

Jasmine, Los Angeles,

Yes my friends. It wasn't the Egyptians who built the fence to contain the Gaza palestineans. It was the Israelis...... of course!

George Winston, San Jose, California, USA

Buy today, trade tomorrow. A sealed border makes a TV worth its weight in barter, after you can bear to part with it, and probably all that Gaza has for an economy most days. Very smart. I know some of the first things to go in Baghdad were people's books, mirrors, and end tables.
From reading the comments above I might think some are trying to score points, but that would be uncivil of me.

Victor, Chicago, IL

Why does Egypt have a wall against Gaza? I thought only Israel was to blame for Palestinian situation?

Kevin, Michigan, USA

It amazes me that the international community decries the "collective punishment" of the people for the deeds of Hamas, when in fact it was this same group of people that elected Hamas to lead them. The Palestinians may deserve a better shake in the greater scheme of things, but the current situation is of their own making to a certain degree.

WB, Stuart, Florida

Just to add - it was Israel that used to police the crossing and their agreement with Egypt was for the Egyptians to enfore the closure.

So don't blame Egypt. Anyway the closure is over.

Well, freedom tastes sweet.

Ollie, Manchester, UK

What an amazing story! Like the great escape, but with tens of thousands of people going through the wall...

Tom, London, England

Abdalla,
Are the Palestinians ever responsible for their own actions? It's always someone else to blame.

Mike, Centerport, NY,

No wonder. Egyptians are much poorer than Palestinians are. Hence according to the Market Low Egyptian goods and services should be more attractive.

Alex, Auckland, New Zealand

So, short of MONTHS of work and explostions, a physical barrier WORKS. Now let's build one on the US/Mexican border. Mexico shouldn't be deprived of all that wonderful "cheap labor."

Scott, Austin,

Like the Egyptians did not know the wal was being worked on for months.

The drama continues and only the players are impressed

e wem, taylor, mi usa

As average as most Americans are - do we really know what is going on over there? The media prints and broadcasts what they want and when they want. I support zero vialiance but that is easy for me to say since I don't have to walk 25 miles to get essentials. Yes Hamas has responsibility as does the US and Isreali goverment. As a native american indian, I do understand the feeling of losing land, culture and a goverment that just doesn't seem to care. It is a comples issue that the world needs to solve. This one issue alone seems to be the one source of hatred that fuels the ntire middle east problems.

We need to demand from our goverment that this situation be resolved. Our unending support of Isreal needs to be reviewed and a common ground stance should be taken.

tom, florence,

How many billions are in the Arafat bank accounts? How much foreign aid has been stolen from the Palestinian people? Fatah, Hamas, and other leaders of the Islamic world are abusing these pitiful pawns for propaganda against Israel (who aren't entirely clean and blameless themselves), and as the cannon fodder so that they can keep their own hands clean and safe; yeah, sure makes me want to follow their god!

Google "Rami Ayyad" to see how the kind and sensitive leaders of Hamas treat other Palestinians.

JR, Etiwanda, CA / USA

Excellent, great news. No matter how hard the media works at it, they're not going to be able to suppress the fact that the entire world tires of Israel and the Jews.

A proud Methodist

Curt Maynard, Corpus Christi, Texas

wonder how many rockets, explosives and other devices aimed at harming Israels Hamas will be bringing back from Egypt. seems like the media, as usual, ignores this fact

J Taylor, London,

Nice to see the Egyptians supporting their muslim brothers by jacking up their prices.

David Smith, Stourbridge, UK

Hey guys. Why not show love to or another and get past "lex talonis"

We hammer each other and hate to our bone brake.

Let's do it differently.

michael hall ms msc, Miami Beach , Florida

Words to ponder: As per the Qur'an, all the land belongs to Muslims, even that which has never been previously occupied by Muslims -- this includes 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and the House of Commons, London.

You will never understand the root cause of the conflicts between the Muslim world and the non-Muslim world unless you're familiar teachings of the Qur'an.

dieldrin, The United States of America,

Thousands of people were herding back cows, sheep and even camels from Egypt into the Gaza strip. Others brought back motorbikes while many women lugged back cans of olive oil and men could be seen weighed down with jerry-cans full of fuel.

Do read the entire story Elle... and im sure you couldnt do without ur TV or mobile phone for a day either =)

Mike Johson, UK,

Perhaps if Israel stopped stealing Palestinian land - which they have been doing, incrementally, since 1967 - the Palestinians would feel less like defending their dwindling territory with feeble rocket attacks. Israel kills and makes homeless far more Palestinians than these rocket attacks affect in Israel, all to no avail. Perhaps a different strategy is in order - or maybe it's not really peace the Israelis are looking for.

Brian Otto, Waterloo, Ontario Canada

Egypt did not build this wall or close this border. That barrier was erected by Israel and crossing the Gaza Egypt border was controlled by Israel until 2005. And even after Israel "dis-engaged" from Gaza, Israel kept demanding that Egypt keep the border closed.

callum , atlanta,

Palestinians seem pretty rich...

I wonder what they're complaining about?

John, Sheffield, MA

If Israel wants peace so much it must be prepared to pay the price, which is justice for the Palestinians. They will not and do not deserve to have peace until they are willing to do so.

ash, manchester,

I am sure that the people of the Gaza Strip must not appreciate feeling "trapped" in their territory, May I suggest to them to stop firing rockets into Israel, stop supporting terrorist organizations such as Hamas, and then perhaps others in the world will be more sympathetic to your plight.

Joe W., Sacramento, California, USA

It seems that nobody remembers that the Gaza strip was part of Egypt prior to 1967. Now Egyptians don't even want their Arab brothers to visit them and had a steel wall to keep them out. Hummm... And then Israel is to blame for the Gazan's misery...? Just do the math... something does not add up, eh?

Jack Hall, Winnipeg, Canada

Israel will soon demand that Egypt close the border. Egypt will drag its feet until the threat of war is made. The people in Gaza will be made to pay the price.

Jim, Cleveland, USA

Great to see the Palestinians escape their Israeli imposed prison. Where is the pressure from the UN to free these people, oops US puts a stop to that !!!!

Johnny T, LA, CA

"Egypt has a fence to keep the Palestinians out and it's the Israelis that the Palestinians hate?

If Israel treated the Palestinians like the other Arab states do, the Palestinians would have been dead from starvation years ago."

Abud Dimane, Dubai, UAE

Well said....

FZ, Tampa, FL

..you forgot to mention that the fence was constructed with 20 Million dollars that the u.s gave to Egypt for that purpose.

Well done Palestinians!

Jacob Templeton, New York,

Hey Aaron Levitt, New York, NY, I guess that's what you come up with when, I'm assuming, your knowledge of the history goes back two to three years.

Dan, New York, NY

Aaron Levitt, Did you not understand that the wall that came down was one on the Egyption border. You may want to read the document again.

RDW, Atlanta, GA

Viva Palestina!
One more step on the long march to irresistible victory against the Zionists and their Imperialist backers!
Republik Indonesia's 235 million people support our Palestina brethren with our whole heart as we did your hero Arafat!
Viva Palestina Merdeka! Merdeka! Palestina Raya!

Purba, Jogjakarta, Indonesia

brooklynjon, Israel didn't suffer from terrorism in Palestine before the 20th century. Why was that? If you occupy another nation's land, you are not entitled to complain about the consequences. The solution is to leave. The Israelis should all move to America. I suggest that in the initial stages of the evacuation, they should all be billeted on Republican politicians.

Oliver Chettle, Bedford,

Those who are questioning why they did not know about the existence of this wall should perhaps be questioning the sources of their news. Because, although unreported by most media, this is nothing new, and would have been easily learned by anyone looking into the issues in the area. Most new sources have a knee-jerk desire to blame Israel for everything that occurs in the region.

sf, Ontario, Canada

Bravo to Hamas!!!

diane Shirley, tacoma, wa, usa

The withdrawal from Gaza could be seen as a pilot project for a withdrawal from the West Bank. It has shown the sort of chaos that could be expected if Israel withdrew from the West Bank. The Palestinians have shown that even if Israel withdraws from their territories, they will continue to harras them and carry out attacks on them. What is the point then of withdrawing from the West Bank?

Gerard, London, UK

about time the othe arabs are taking some responsibility for the palestinians instead of whining to israel.

funny how they can afford to buy rockets but are 'starving' - give me a break, hamas are fools and murderers and the palestinians pawns who will always be pawns

Deiter, Sydney, Australia

As I understand it, the wall was built by Israel and stands on the Gaza side of the Egypt/Gaza border. Of course the Palestinians have every right to take it down whenever they want to.

marco, London, UK

I welcome a breath of fresh air for the Gazan people, it is about time they had a bit of good news.
JC

JC, Melton Mowbray, UK

It is time for Israel to come to the Eygptian border crossing and close it off for good. Do not let the terrorists back in. They left freely. And they should thank the Arab world for their barbarity.

Peter, Orlando,

It seems so easy for people to dismiss an entire poplutaion simply because they have chosen leadership who has expertly played on their fears and religious beliefs. How are they so different from us? And from Israel? Ignorance is the opposite of peace.

Bill, Atlanta, USA

How dare they have a wall,or even a border.These poor workers must be allowed to roam free.

R, Destroyed, mexico/USA

Anybody that rains down missiles on innocent women
and children are animals and need to be caged.

RW, MAdison, Wi USA

I think this wall was originally erected by the Israelis, as a portion of their border with Egypt (not all of Israel's southern border is walled). The border between Gaza and Egypt was Israel's border for decades. Now it is a 'border.'

Interesting note: Last week, I understand the price of a Kalashnikov in Egypt was under US$1000 (down from over 2k), due to the increased Egyptian vigilance along the border, and the Bedouins' difficulty in smuggling to Hamas. I am sure business is back to usual today.

MSF, NY, NY

There was no Palestine 60 years ago, just Palestinians. Israel was formerly Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt. For the longest time, the Israelis have kept an integrated Israeli/Arab state. Even when the 'borders' went up, they let the Palestinians come and go until the radicals caused to much trouble destroying property, and killing people.

Meanwhile the surrounding Arab states generally prevented free movement of the Palestinians, as evidenced by the Egyptian border fence that the press (especially including the Arab press) never reports on. Why did they not set up a Palestinian state for these people prior to 60 years ago?

That goodness Hamas decided to knock down the border fence with Egypt. It provides some much needed perspective.

BillR, St. Louis, U.S.A.

So you critics are happy to laugh that Egypt has had a fence? So a military dictatorship and Israel act similar?
Also, Israel's fence crossed over into pre-1967 Palestinian territory.
Let's not forget that Arab neighbours use the Palestinians for their own political advantage. This is not news people.
And the author has chosen to mention the people with tvs and what not. The reality is that hundreds of thousands of other Palestinians were bringing back fuel, food and basic necessities (or not coming back at all).
Wow, and suddenly you Western critics suddenly hate free market basics like supply and demand?
What painfully pathetic comments...

Matt, Toronto, Ontario

I thought their were absolutely poor , with only money for the basic no for taxis or motorbikes

Robert, Palma,

The Egyptians, indeed, did maintain the wall. They did so under the threat of Israeli military action if they did otherwise. That wall was intended to keep fighters in Gaza from getting fresh supplies of weapons and ammo. Onc could argue the wall didn't do much to stop the flow of arms. The Egyptian govenment doesn't seem to be losing much sleep over the border traffic and will allow it to happen until Israel demands the Gaza strip be sealed again.

Israel knows it's time is running out. Soon they will be overrun from within with Israeli Arabs. Look at the birth rates. They must either purge the Arabs and create a Jewish state soon or face the consequences.

Jim, Cleveland, USA

Some history on the Gaza- Egypt border should have been mentioned as context. Until a few years ago this border was controlled by Israel in order to prevent weapons being smuggled in. Egypt is suppossed to now prevent this and have been woefully irresponsible - Israel & the US a few months ago applied some pressure to Egypt as missiles, rockets and various weapons in large quantities have been getting in to be used on Israel. Israel will soon have no choice but to retake the border. The Gaza Arabs clearly were not "starving" as they mostly bought cell phones, TVs, and cigarettes so this is no humanitarian crisis.

It should have been mentioned that Israel has cut off electricity & fuel supplies ONLY after (elected) Hamas controlled Gaza continues to rain down a substantial # of rockets of increasingly larger size & range onto Israeli schools and civilians.There would be peace tomorrow if Hamas wanted it...their goal is continued instability so they can blame, then eliminate Israel.

Eric Kossian, Leavenworth, usa

Well, I have to hand it to the so called Palestinians - they were very civil. Had this been L.A. I think the shopkeepers would have GIVEN their merchandise away.

I just don't understand the author's spin that this somehow is a victory for Hamas. The people lack for needs and wants - things Hamas just can't make happen. Hamas can not effectively run an out-house let alone a tiny country and this flood of people across the fence is proof of their failure.

But hey, their advisers are the same religious types that have let about 100 people freeze to death so far in Iran (hello global warming?) because of a lack of fuel in an oil rich country.

Don Hormel, Oklahoma City, OK

Gee, all those "impoverished, oppressed" Palestinians going shopping for cars, tvs and cows. No mention of the fact that Palestinians are middle-income and receive the most aid per capita in the world (far more than they deserve, because there are hundreds of millions of poorer and more deserving people in Africa, South America and Asia).

The "international community", ignorant though it may be, should stop funding Palestinian terrorists. Maybe then the Palestinians will stop electing them.

Philip Cassini, London,

Interesting the reaction of the Egyptian border guards.

Pat, Montreal,

... any nobody noticed?

Ron, Toronto, Canada

Sure, Americans are responsible for this situation and now you are question their poverty. kindly step out of your homes and try and live in that condition to get a feel of it..

Abdalla, Gaza,

For all those people complaining about "Egypt building a wall", this wall between Gaza and Egypt was also constructed by Israel in 2004, a year before they left.

And regarding the Egyptian border guards, Israel and US pressurise Egypt to secure the border. Only thsi time no one could stop 350,000 people, most of whom bought food and yes some bought TVs too, it is not yet a crime to do that.

Abhinav, Cambridge, USA

No person should be caged. I am certain if anyone of the previous posters was without a tv, they would grab a tv. Walk a mile in some elses shoes before judging. "Remove the log from your eye before you remove the speck from your neighbours eye."

Anthony Adams, Prince Rupert, Canada

Aaron Levitt,

When Israel let in the Palestinian civilians, they suffered terribly from terrorism. When they set up checkpoints to keep out the weapons, they were faulted internationally for that. When they exercized their sovereign right to seal their international border, they are criticized for that as well. Other than committing national suicide, what exactly is Israel allowed to do?

brooklynjon, Brooklyn, NY

guys who are so quick to point out hypocrisy,

Israel's wall goes into Palestinian territory. whereas the Egyptian wall is to safeguard its own border. there is no 'disputed territory' or 'Egyptian settlements' involved here.

its like the proposed fence between the U.S. and Mexico. not much difference.

ali, waterloo, on, canada

"egyptian shopkeepers swiftly raised prices of milk, taxi rides and cigarettes".

charitable as ever.

jem, london, uk

So these "impoverished deprived" people were carrying TV sets, cigarettes and mobile phones. Not the first things really deprived people would consider.

Elle, Pacifica, USA Calof

Not surprising that the media only airs stories on the walls protecting Israel. Not a peep about the Egyptian wall.

Chris, Casper,

wow, the muslim on muslim love is astounding! no wonder they want to bring this 'love' to the rest of the world.... ummm, no thanks.

moses, tel aviv,

Abud Dimane, you wrote what I thought. Why is nobody complaining about that wall instead? unbelievable...

JL, London,

Thank you Abud Dimane for writing exactly what I was thinking! Unbelievable.

J, London,

I guess I've been missing the fact of this wall in the news . . . forever. Maybe it was common knowledge that Egypt had walled off the Palestinians, but this was news to me, and to everyone else I've mentioned it to at my office. So why is Israel bad for doing the same thing the Egyptians had already done? I guess I'm missing a point, but it would seem to me that the media, in countless stories about Israel, a wall, an embargo, etc., has missed a significant factor. Why am I not surprised that accurate information from the media about a woeful situation has been and is probably still lacking?

chris jacobs, washington, dc

I guess now Israel can completely close its border with Gaza and Haniyeh can get his supplies from his Arab 'brothers' in Egypt. TV's, motorbikes, camels, cows. Maybe the the impoverished Palestinians aren't really so.

David G, Paris, France

Israel should invade Gaza...form a one mile wide, 6 miles from the Israeli border to the Med., put up a double concrete wall with a road in the middle and a six mile long deep ditch filled with sea water. Total blockade of Gaza until the rockets stop, then begin to ease in humanitarian aid so long as the rockets do not continue.

C, Miami Beach, Florida

Another smoldering ember in the coming conflagration that will consume the Middle East. We now only have a short time to wait for the Israeli government to carry out the destruction of the Iranian nuclear interstructure. Then the whole area will become a battle ground.

R. McGraw, Centerville, Utah

Egypt has a fence to keep the Palestinians out and it's the Israelis that the Palestinians hate?

If Israel treated the Palestinians like the other Arab states do, the Palestinians would have been dead from starvation years ago.

Abud Dimane, Dubai, UAE

LOL,

Thats what i call using your initiative, good luck Palestinians.

Zak, London, uk

At last, a taste of freedom for a long-imprisoned people. The Israeli government could have permitted civilian travel and trade several years ago, in which case Hamas would never have risen to power. They could have done the same thing more recently while still preventing the inflow of weapons into the territory. Instead, and with great consistency, the Israelis have chosen an illegal regime of collective punishment targeting the civilian population of Gaza. This latest event is the direct result of those choices, and shows that they were not only unjust, but terribly unwise.

Aaron Levitt, New York, NY

Why does no-one mention that it has been the Egyptians keeping the border closed - in most places there are no Israeli soldiers! And how fraternal the Arabs are : "those returning were complaining of sky-rocketing prices."

Peter Bench, London,