A Palestinian was killed and seven others injured when some 5,000 Palestinians stampeded the newly opened Rafah crossing from the Gaza Strip to Egypt. The elderly victim, who was on his way for a medical checkup in Egypt on Thursday morning, died of unknown causes, medics said. Israel opens the crossing only sporadically because of security threats. The crossing is Gaza’s gateway to the outside world. When the crowd began pushing to the gate and threw stones, security officials fired warning shots, wounding two. Officials temporarily shut the border. “It was impossible for the Palestinian security personnel to keep control,” European Union spokesman Jose Vericat said.
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