UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 15, 2005
Sharon Endorses Palestinian State
Says Israel Won't Rule Over Them; Also, Fears Of Al Qaeda In Gaza
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Palestinian Foreign Minister Nassar Al Kidwa listens to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, addressing the United Nations General Assembly. (AP)
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A Palestinian boy squeezes through a small hole in the border wall between the Rafah refugee camp in Gaza and Egypt (AP)
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Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel addresses the United Nations General Assembly, at U.N. headquarters in New York Thursday Sept. 15, 2005. (AP)
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Meanwhile, Gaza is being flooded with weapons, just days after Israeli forces pulled out, Berger reports. Thousands of Palestinians broke down the border fence between Gaza and Egypt, and officials say hundreds of assault rifles and pistols and thousands of bullets have been smuggled across the wide-open frontier.
Islamic militant groups, some claiming connections with al Qaeda, have been active in northern Egypt but there has been no indication they've infiltrated Gaza, which until this week has been tightly sealed.
Its operatives are prime suspects in a triple bombing that killed at least 64 people in July at Egypt's popular Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik on the southern tip of the Sinai. That attack came 10 months after bombings at two other Sinai resorts near the Israeli border, Taba and Ras Shitan, killed more than 30 people.
Senior Israeli military officials said they feared al Qaeda operatives could enter Gaza from Sinai and connect with the local Hamas militant group to share expertise and provide weapons.
Regev and other officials said Israel fears that militants will leave Gaza and enter Israel through the Egypt-Israeli border in the Sinai Desert, an unfenced frontier. The Egypt-Israel border has long been a favorite crossing point for drug runners, illegal workers and prostitutes.
Israel's border patrol arrested 21 Gazans trying to get into Israel through Sinai overnight, said border patrol spokesman Ilan Azini. He said the infiltrators were apparently either trying to enter Israel to get work or attempting to reach the West Bank.
One Palestinian official rejected the Israeli accusations of terrorist infiltration, calling them "ridiculous" and "a complete lie."
"Israel withdrew from the border without coordination and Israel shoulders the responsibility for the actions that took place on the border," said Palestinian Interior Ministry official Tawfiq Abu Khoussa. He said Palestinian and Egyptian forces will soon restore order at the frontier.
He added Gaza's people would not tolerate an al Qaeda presence in their midst.
©MMV CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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