By
Khaled Abu Toameh:
One of the founders of Hamas's armed wing, Izzaddin al-Kassam, on Sunday returned to the Gaza Strip through the Rafah border crossing.
Palestinian security sources told The Jerusalem Post that Bashir Hammad, who fled the Gaza Strip in 1992, arrived at the Gaza Strip on Sunday afternoon. They said Hammad had been wanted by Israel since 1988.
The sources said that at least 45 Hamas and Fatah fugitives have returned to the Gaza Strip through the Rafah terminal since it was handed over to the Palestinian Authority four months ago.
This last line is an error--the terminal was transferred four weeks ago.
See
this must-read post for the context on the Rafah crossing deal farce, which I predicted would be worthless in stopping terrorists. Adding insult to injury, the PA recently
renamed the site in honor of a suicide bomber. Of course this is absent from the mainstream press. Here, for example is a jaw-dropping, yet representative, description from yesterday's
New York Times:
With complicated last-minute negotiating here on Nov. 24, Rafah opened on time on Nov. 25, with technical snags that have been quietly fixed.
See also:
Israel Concerned Over Terrorists Entering Gaza
