( dpa ) - Egyptian police have begun rounding up Palestinians who entered the Sinai peninsula though holes blasted in the Gaza Strip-Egyptian border fence, witnesses said Thursday.
They said police beat some of the Palestinians with batons to force them back to Gaza.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have crossed into Egypt through gaps militants blasted in the concrete and iron border fence early Wednesday morning.
Egyptian police at first did not prevent the Gazans from crossing over.
Most of those who crossed over on Wednesday returned to Gaza by midnight after buying products made scarce in the enclave by a tight Israeli siege.