( dpa ) - Thousands of Palestinians continued to flood out of the Gaza Strip into Egypt unhindered on Saturday after the failure of Egyptian security forces' attempts to close the border.
With Gaza residents going into Egypt to buy scarce supplies, many have ignored demands by Egyptian authorities to return, and Egyptian police have apparently given up all efforts to normalize the situation.
Israel, which has sealed off the Strip in response to a surge of rocket attacks from the salient, has closed many hiking trails and tourist sites along the border with Egypt out of fear of attacks by Palestinian militants.
On Friday, Israel closed the most important roads along the Israeli-Egyptian border to private traffic.
On Friday Egyptian security forces in full riot gear were deployed along the border with Gaza in an attempt to restore order after two days of anarchy that saw hundreds of thousands of Palestinians cross over freely.