Bring down the bloody fence!
Palestinians have breached the border fence with Egypt in several places and hundreds have crossed the frontier prompting Egyptian border guards to open fire, said officials and witnesses on both sides of the border.
An Egyptian security official said there were at least four breaches along the 9 mile (14 kilometer) border and hundreds of Palestinian residents were pouring in.
The breach came shortly after Israeli aircraft struck the smuggling tunnels running underneath the border, targeting one of the lifelines of the territory’s Hamas rulers.
At least 300 Egyptian border guards have been rushed to the area to reseal the border, the official added on condition on anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.
A witness on the Gaza side of the border, Fida Kishta, said residents detonated a land mine along the border and commandeered a bulldozer to create more breaches.
“There was a loud bang and then we saw the smoke, and then people began heading toward Egypt, we counted them in the hundreds. Everyone in the area started crossing through,” she said.
The official on the Egyptian side said the wall between Gaza and Egypt at the Barahneh neighborhood was brought down during the airstrike and the subsequent large explosion from a nearby fuel tank.
“Hundreds of women, children and men went through the breach,” the official said speaking on condition of anonymity. He added that there was firing in the air from both sides as people attempted to cross the border. Palestinians also threw stones at the Egyptian security.