Israel Assists Palestinians to Mecca

I haven't commented on many Israel stories from the rest of Africa of late, but here is an interesting one that I noticed in the Namibian from the Nampa AP.

Story was dated 3 Jan but I only saw it today.

Gaza Strip (AP) -Israel bused hundreds of Palestinians to Egypt yesterday so they could make the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca later this month. The Israeli army bused the pilgrims to Egypt because the Israeli-controlled side of the Gaza-Egypt crossing was destroyed last month in a bombing by the militant Hamas group. Colonel Yoav Mordechai, head of Israel's Gaza liaison office, said the army had arranged for about 4 500 Palestinians to be taken on Israeli buses to Egypt, where they will board planes for Saudi Arabia. The buses, secured by the army, leave Gaza at the Erez crossing and pass into Israel before crossing back into Gaza along the volatile Philadelphi Route - a patrol road that is the frequent scene of fighting - and then into Egypt, Mordechai said. Hundreds of thousands of Muslims annually join the Hajj, or pilgrimage, to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest place in Islam. (Jerusalem only ranks third - Ed) This year the Hajj - which is one of the five pillars of Islam - is scheduled for January 22. Mordechai said it will take several more weeks for Israel to finish repairing the damage to the Gaza-Egypt border crossing caused by the December 12 attack, during which Hamas killed five soldiers when it detonated 1,5 tons of explosives packed into a tunnel dug under an army outpost. The first busloads of Palestinians - some 800 people - left yesterday morning and another 800 will be bused each day until January 7, Mordechai said.