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(INN) Egyptian authorities deported 68 Palestinians back to Gaza on Monday, though they were not planning to remain in Egypt, but rather on heading for Europe by sea.
The would-be migrants from Gaza were found by Egyptian security forces in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria, hoping to reach Italy. The Arabs had arrived in Egypt via secret smuggling tunnels from Gaza.
An Egyptian court ruled that all 68 must be deported to Gaza. Last month, 43 Palestinian Arabs were detained in Egypt under similar circumstances. The Egyptian policy contrasts starkly with that of its tiny north-eastern neighbor, Israel. Israel's Supreme Court ruled last month that illegal infiltrators may not be detained for more than 60 days, and that Israel must free about 2,000 of them by the end of the year.
An increasing number of Arabs have tried to leave Gaza via Egypt and enter Europe. A large ship carrying around 500 migrants, mostly from Gaza, capsized off the coast of Malta on Sept. 14, leaving fewer than 100 survivors. The ship was apparently purposely rammed by another smuggler ship.
It remains to be seen whether the hundreds of millions of dollars in international aid pledged this week to Gaza will improve the lives of regular citizens, or will be used, as in the past, to line the pockets of Gaza officials and/or to build tunnels by which terrorists will be able to attack Israel. The aid money will apparently be given to Gaza whether or not the Hamas terrorist leadership disarms – a condition on which Israel originally insisted, but which now appears to have been ignored.
