EL-ARISH, Egypt (AFP) — Over 1,000 Palestinian pilgrims stuck in Egypt refused Sunday to be moved into camps until they are given clearance to return to Gaza without going through Israel, a security source said.
"They are refusing to get off the buses and the situation is very tense," the source told AFP.
The Palestinians were bused to the north Sinai city of El-Arish after having been stuck on boats off Egypt's Red Sea port of Nuweiba since Saturday.
The pilgrims have refused demands by the Egyptian authorities "to pledge in writing" that they would agree to return to Gaza via an Israeli border crossing, the source said.
Egypt on Sunday decided to move the pilgrims to the El-Arish stadium and to temporary camps in the coastal city until the dispute is resolved but they refused to leave the buses and began to stage protests, the source said.
Hundreds of Egyptian security forces deployed in the area, the source added.
The pilgrims refused to go back to Gaza through the Israeli-controlled Kerem Salem crossing because many of them are relatives of people wanted by Israeli authorities, according to Hamas.
"The pilgrims have confirmed that they refuse to return except through the Rafah crossing which they left from," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told a press conference in Gaza City on Saturday.
"They do not want to face harassment from Israeli security, given that so many of our people have faced harassment and arrests while passing through the crossings that are under direct Israeli control."
Abu Zuhri urged Egypt to allow the pilgrims to return to Gaza through Rafah, branding any alternative as a cave-in to "American and Zionist pressure".
In mid-December, hundreds of Palestinian pilgrims were allowed to leave for the hajj via Rafah, Gaza's only window on the outside world that bypasses Israel.
Hundreds more left through the Erez crossing, which links the Palestinian territory with Israel.
On December 3, some 2,000 Palestinians from Gaza were allowed to cross into Egypt via the Rafah border crossing, which has been closed since Islamist Hamas seized power in the territory in June.
The Palestinians were headed toward Saudi Arabia for the annual pilgrimage to Muslim holy sites, known as the hajj.
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