CAIRO, Jun 24, 2005 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Some 1,000 Palestinians spent the night on the Egyptian side of the Rafah checkpoint on the border between Gaza and Egypt on Thursday due to tight Israeli checks, the official MENA news agency reported Friday.
Israeli forces had stepped up security at the border and only let a very slow trickle across, said an Egyptian border official in Rafah on condition of anonymity.
Palestinians stranded at the border checkpoint had to sleep outdoors or in buses, said the official, adding "their numbers keep growing and there are currently around 1,000, including elderly people, pregnant women and children."
There was no immediate reaction from the Israeli authorities.
Egypt and Israel are currently engaged in discussions over an Egyptian deployment at the sensitive border after the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in mid August.