¡¡PARIS, Aug. 4 (Xinhuanet) -- France on Wednesday urged Israel to find a "rapid and worthy" solution to end the situation in which thousands of Palestinians are being prevented by the Israeli army from entering the Gaza Strip from Egypt at the Rafah border point,the only connection between the two countries

    "According to the news we have received, about 3,000 Palestinians -- including many children -- have been stranded on the Egyptian side since July 16 by an Israeli army blockade of theRafah border point," French Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman Cecile Pozzo di Borgo said in a statement.

    "For sanitary and humanitarian reasons, we call on the Israeli Authorities to find a rapid and worthy solution to this situation in respect of international humanitarian rights," the statement said.

    In 1993, the Palestinian authority agreed to give Israel control of the border point at Rafah -- a city on the Egypt-Gaza Strip border -- on the Palestinian side.

    The Israeli army closed the border point on July 16 "because ofan attacks alert" and asked tourists to enter the Gaza Strip via the Nitsanit passage some 60 kilometers south-east of Rafah. Enditem