Gaza wall

With Israel having blocked supplies from reaching the Gaza Strip,the desparate Palestinians, starved for essential food supplies, medicines and fuel tore down the Gaza wall separating Gaza and the Egyptian town of Rafah, by blasts and with bulldozers.Some 200,000 Palestinians poured out of Gaza and into Egypt through this breach. The Egyptian police patrol were supposedly overwhelmed after an initial retaliation.

Palestinians walked unhindered over the toppled metal plates that once made up the border wall, carrying goats, chickens and crates of Coke. There were some who even brought back televisions,car tires, and even a motorcycle!

The Guardian has a short write up on the walled barrier which is seven miles in length,eight to nine feet high and made of corrugated sheet metal, with short stretches of concrete blocks and of barbed wire.

Gaza economy collapsing

War and strife has brought no one anything other than misery. And Palestine history has been one long period of suffering for its citizenry. With Fatah and Hamas at each others' throat, the general populace of Gaza, whose problems are only escalating with Isreal pushing in their might, are a harried lot.

Israel has completely closed commercial and travel crossings following the Hamas-dominated government's takeover of the Gaza Strip in June.This closure of the Rafah crossing has all but stopped the trade supplies from entering Gaza strip.The economic siege has resulted in high prices and very low incomes. And rising unemployment is not helping the cause.With no natural resources and all industries paralyzed by Israel's closures,the population has become increasingly dependant on the UN and other foreign agencies' handouts.