The Gaza Strip's border with Egypt has reopened after the Palestinian Authority negotiated an end to an armed blockade by policemen angered at the death of a colleague in a clan clash. A spokesman for European Union security monitors at the main border crossing of Rafah said operations would resume at 3.15pm (1315 GMT). The monitors had been temporarily withdrawn shortly after the standoff began on Friday morning. Gazan policemen incensed at the death of a fellow officer in a clan clash had blockaded the border with Egypt, prompting European Union monitors to withdraw in a fresh blow to the Palestinian Authority's efforts to curb chaos.Already busy searching for three Britons abducted nearby on Wednesday, officials scrambled to defuse the standoff at the Rafah terminal, whose opening last month was hailed as a step to make the Gaza Strip a testing ground for Palestinian statehood. Witnesses said policemen, backed by armed men from the ruling Fatah faction led by Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, prevented vehicles from reaching the Rafah crossing. They fanned out in the terminal, forcibly ejecting would-be travellers.
The policemen were angered by the death of a fellow officer in a clash with a Gaza clan on Thursday, the witnesses said. Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed group aligned to the Fatah, called on Abbas to sack Nasser Youssef, the interior minister, and Ala Hosni, the police chief, accusing them of failing to rein in Gaza chaos. "Know that we will take decisive measures. The first step has been closing the Rafah crossing," the group said in a statement that was also signed by several policemen.