A Palestinian boy rides his bike near the breached border fence on the Gaza-Egypt border. (Wissam Nassar, Maan Images)

Fourteen-year-old Ahmed Salah is not sure when he can give his mother a surprise like that again.

"Where have you been?" his mother said to him after he disappeared from home the first time when the Gazan border with Egypt was breached late last month. What he brought back said just where. "See what I got you. Garlic, washing powder...and there is smoked fish!"

The mother is thrilled to see her son back safe, and to see what he brought. The garlic made her particularly happy.

"I heard my mother say there is no garlic left at home, so I decided to bring her some," Ahmed told IPS. "There's a lot in Egypt. Egyptians received us very well, offering tea and biscuits, even though this was right after militants blew open a long stretch of the Wall," Ahmed says of his three-day visit.

Ahmed is among the hundreds of thousands who ventured into al-Arish in Egypt in search of all that has not been available within Gaza Strip -- walled in, and under sanctions. But now it does not seem that they can cross over so easily again.

On Sunday Egypt blocked remaining gaps in the border barricade, ending 12 days of free movement. Egyptian troops were allowing Palestinians back into Gaza, but not letting any more come in. Egyptian officials declared in Cairo that they would "never" allow the border to be breached again.

To read the full article please visit Inter Press Service.