CAIRO, May 2 (UPI) -- Egypt has strengthened its security presence along its border with Gaza, officials say.
The Egyptian government raised its alert level Saturday after receiving information Palestinians planned a march to protest the closing of the Rafah crossing and the possibility of Hezbollah fighters trying to infiltrate the border along the southern Sinai border and the Suez Canal area, Ynetnews.com reported Sunday.
Egyptian authorities had announced they intend to open the Rafah crossing on Wednesdays and Thursdays. But that goodwill gesture was clouded by last week's deaths of four Palestinians in a smuggling tunnel that led Hamas and other Palestinians to accuse Cairo of using gas to poison them. Egypt has denied spraying poisonous gas in smuggling tunnels.
Cairo newspaper al-Masry al-Youm Egyptian reported security
forces have beefed up their presence in the southern Sinai and Suez Canal areas, fearing Hezbollah will try to avenge the tunnel victims, Ynetnews said.
"These are natural steps following the harsh verdicts handed down against the Hezbollah cell members in Egypt," an unnamed security official told the newspaper. "This requires boosting the security measures ahead of the possible ramifications of these sentences."
The Palestinian news agency Ma'an reported the de facto government in Gaza Sunday said it has created a panel to investigate the tunnel deaths and called on Cairo to do the same.
