Thousands of Palestinians are stuck in two Egyptian towns by the Gaza border, unable to return home amid an Israeli assault on the coastal strip, an Egyptian security official said Saturday. Brigadier Khairi Awwad, head of the Rafah city council, said more than 4,000 Palestinians were in staying in Rafah, on the border with Gaza, and El Arish, a town about 30 miles to the west. Many of them are Palestinians who work in Persian Gulf countries and travel home through Egypt to Gaza for summer vacation, he said. Mohammed Awadallah, a 56-year-old high school teacher, was traveling from Saudi Arabia with his wife and seven children to spend the summer with relatives in Gaza. Full Story