An Egyptian soldier was killed, and four Palestinians wounded, in a gun battle on Wednesday during a protest against an anti-smuggling wall Egypt is building on the Gaza border.Wednesday’s violence was the most serious between Egyptian and Hamas forces since Cairo began constructing the underground steel barrier a month ago. Egypt hopes that the project could put an end to the illegal movement of weapons and goods through tunnels into the Gaza Strip.
The shooting erupted after scores of Palestinian protesters hurled rocks at the soldiers, witnesses and medical officials said.
On the Egyptian side of the frontier, security officials said that a 21-year-old soldier had been killed by gunfire from the Palestinian part of the divided town of Rafah.
Witnesses on the Gaza side of the border said members of Hamas's police force fired at the Egyptians.
Hundreds of Palestinians had turned out to protest against the wall.
Witnesses said dozens of demonstrators threw rocks at Egyptian soldiers, who then opened fire, wounding four Palestinians.Cairo has played down the scope of the dig on the 14km (8 mile) border.
Hamas says the "wall of death" could choke off the tunnels, which currently provide a commercial lifeline for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas justified Egypt's building of the wall as a matter of national security during a visit to Kuwait on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Egyptian authorities yesterday approved the entry of all 198 trucks that form part of an international relief convoy to Gaza, after clashes with the police at the only border terminal to by-pass Israel.
"The 198 trucks will enter Gaza today after Egypt approved its entry in long negotiation process," said Zahir el-Barwi, a spokesman for the Viva Palestina convoy.
He added that he hoped the convoy would meet no more obstacles on its way to the strip. An Egyptian security official said that security at the border crossing was tightened last night, after violent clashes took place between security forces and activists trying to get the convoy into Gaza on Tuesday evening.
"The protestors had broken a gate on the crossing and used a truck to block another one," the official said on condition of anonymity.Calm was restored to the Egyptian border with the Gaza Strip on Wednesday after the clash, which left 55 injured.
Egyptian security forces have now taken control of the facilities, after a number of organisers from the British-based Viva Palestina aid convoy tried to smash through a harbour gate, a security source said.
"All the injured people left el-Arish hospital after receiving treatment," a medical source said. Egyupt on Wednesday said that the Rafah crossing with Gaza would be closed on Thursday
On Tuesday night, Egyptian security forces clashed with members of the convoy led by left-wing British politician George Galloway, after the foreigners tried to take control of the border terminal.
The activists threw stones at about 520 people travelling with the convoy, who then retaliated in the same way.The convoy has been locked in a dispute with Egyptian authorities over the route of the 198 trucks.
"Police used water cannon to force the protesters to leave Arish harbour, which they had occupied," the official said. Around 40 members of the convoy sustained minor injuries, whilst around 15 police officials were hurt, witnesses said.
Some of the protesters "lit cardboard boxes and prevented firemen from reaching them and moved cars from the convoy to block the port gate", the ministry said in a statement published by Egypt's official news agency MENA.
