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.
