Egypt on Tuesday boosted security around the border town of Rafah and resealed parts of the barrier blasted open a week ago as it tried to control the flow of people in and out of the Gaza Strip. Egyptian forces strung barbed-wire along some of the gaps between two gates leading into the Palestinian territory, while riot police lined roads from Rafah to the border crossings.
A security force of around 20,000 has been deployed in the north of the Sinai peninsula since Saturday, a security source told AFP, many of them picking up Palestinians and returning them to the border.
Hundreds of thousands of Gazans have swarmed into Egypt since militants blew holes in the border wall on January 22 after a devastating Israeli blockade of the Hamas-run territory cut vital fuel and aid supplies.
Besides those seeking material goods and staples, many have crossed the border to reunite, however briefly, with relatives after years of separation. "We were very happy when the border was breached. We went to see our uncle, our cousins. And of course we took the opportunity to have a day out in Gaza City," said Mohammed al-Sharafa, having made the six-hour journey from Cairo.
While the Gaza Strip has borne the brunt of Israel's blockade, paradoxically the Egyptian side of divided Rafah is now lacking in goods since Egyptians authorities sought to prevent trucks bringing in fresh supplies.
"An Egyptian came in a pick-up truck and virtually cleaned me out of everything I had, so he could sell it over there," says Palestinian youth Tamer al-Gueshta, standing in front of his emptied fruit and veg stall. "There's nothing left on the other side," he says.
Amid the piecemeal moves to control the border, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and a delegation from the rival Islamist movement Hamas were to travel to Cairo on Wednesday for crisis talks. The Hamas delegation will be headed by hard-liner Mahmud Zahar, the group's most influential chief in Gaza, who has had two sons killed in Israeli air strikes, most recently on January 15.
A Hamas official said the team was prepared to meet Abbas, who has previously ruled out dialogue with the Islamists unless they relinquish their control of the Gaza Strip.
Damascus-based Hamas supremo Khaled Meshaal, who is considered close to Zahar, also that he was discussing the possible renewal of talks with Abbas's Fatah faction. Meshaal held talks with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal in Riyadh on Monday that touched on "the issue of resuming an inter-Palestinian dialogue," one of his aides, who did not want to be named, told AFP.
Saudi Arabia last year brokered a power-sharing deal which led to a short-lived unity government between the rival Palestinian factions. Israel has welcomed the possibility of a deal between Abbas and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on retaking control of the border with Gaza, which has been under Hamas rule since its fighters routed forces loyal to the Palestinian president in June.
The White House has described Israel's blockade of Gaza-where most of its 1.5 million population rely on outside aid-as an act of justifiable self-defence in the face of rocket attacks from the territory into Israel.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice offered support for Abbas-whose power base has been restricted to the West Bank since Hamas seized Gaza-to deploy security forces along the border.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit telephoned Rice and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana to express Egypt's "determination to take gradual control of the border," his ministry said. Hamas member of parliament Salah al-Bardawil said the Islamist group wanted new arrangements at the Gaza-Egypt border to replace a 2005 agreement which Abbas reached with Israel.
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