Special report: Palestine-Israel Relations

    CAIRO, July 2 (Xinhua) -- A group of Palestinians has stormed the Rafah crossing at the Egyptian border with the Palestinian enclave Gaza Strip, the pan-Arab al-Jazeera TV channel reported Wednesday.

    The TV footage shows that some Palestinians are throwing rocks at Egyptian troops from the Palestinian side of the border crossing.

    The Egyptian forces use water cannons to keep the Palestinians from crossing into the Egyptian side.

    No details of casualties were reported up to now, but some people were bleeding during the incident.

    The situation has been under control and the Egyptian border guards are still on high alert.

    The border crossing, which was opened temporarily on Tuesday, has been closed after the incident.

    Egyptian authorities on Tuesday temporarily opened the Rafah crossing for Palestinians stranded at both sides. Some Palestinians patients, students and workers have been allowed to cross into Egypt.

    Witnesses said the Palestinians were angry because only a limited number of them have been allowed to cross the border crossing.

    It was reported that the Palestinian side has asked Egypt to open the border crossing for three days till July 3.

    In January, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians crossed into the Egyptian side through the border crossing to stock up on daily supplies after Palestinian militants blasted the border wall open.

    According to an earlier report by the Egyptian state MENA news agency, some 200 Palestinians from Gaza were allowed into Egypt on Tuesday through the Rafah crossing.

    The Rafah crossing, the only Gaza passage to the outside world that bypasses Israel, was completely closed in June 2007 when Hamas routed security forces of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and took over Gaza by force.

    According to a U.S.-brokered deal in 2005, Abbas' presidential guard forces were in charge of security at the crossing in addition to European Union (EU) monitors. The two parties left the crossing following Hamas bloody takeover of Gaza.

    In some occasions, Egypt opened the crossing for patients and some Hamas leaders who leave for talks in Cairo.