RAMALLAH, West Bank - (Video) Egypt has agreed to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' plan to assume control of Gaza's crossing with Egypt, excluding Hamas Islamists who rule the territory, Palestinian and Egyptian officials said on Sunday.
"It was agreed with Egypt that the way to end the border crisis is by implementing the 2005 border agreement and the renewed control of the Palestinian presidential guards of the Rafah crossing," Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki told Reuters from Cairo.
Earlier it was reported that Egyptian forces left their breached border with the Gaza Strip open for a fifth day but further tightened their security cordon around the small border town of Rafah in effort to keep the Palestinians inside Egypt contained in a small area.
Thousands of Palestinians continued to wander through the Egyptian side of the divided town, though most stores remained closed along the chilly and muddy streets and the few gas stations have long ago been denuded of their petrol stocks.
Egyptian border guards and riot police, meanwhile, stepped up their checkpoints to prevent Palestinians from leaving the town, stopping all cars and checking people's identification cards and sending men into the surrounding fields to prevent people from bypassing their blockade as had been happening over the past few days.
Leaders in the region are scrabbling to figure out what to do about last Wednesday's dramatic opening of the border between Egypt and Gaza and subsequent flood of Palestinians out of their besieged territory to buy food, fuel and consumer products.
Egypt condemns Palestinian 'provocations'
Arab foreign ministers are set to meet in Cairo Sunday to discuss the matter, while it will be the centerpiece of talks between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert andPresident Abbas aswell.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Aboul Gheit on Saturday indicated that the government's patience with the situation was running thin following the wounding over the weekend of some three dozen members of the Egyptian security forces and condemned Palestinian "provocations."
Egyptian border guards were now authorized to return fire if attacked, said a security official speaking on customary condition of anonymity on the Egyptian side of Rafah.
Over the past two days, 38 Egyptian security forces have been wounded - some seriously - after Palestinians hurled stones and shot at them at the border, Egypt's foreign minister said.
Israel, meanwhile, has expressed growing concern about the possible influx of Palestinian militants into areas of Egypt that border Israel. The Israeli military announced Saturday that its troops were on heightened alert along the border with Egypt, and that an Israeli road and tourism sites in the area are temporarily closed.
Abbas will meet Wednesday in Cairo with Mubarak to discuss the crisis on the Gaza-Egypt border, an aide for the Fatah-aligned Palestinian president said Saturday.
Abbas insists he will only talk to Hamas about the situation if it retreats from its violent June takeover of Gaza, something Hamas is unlikely to do. Abbas renewed his offer of deploying his forces at the Gaza crossings, as a way of ending the closure of Gaza by Israel and Egypt.
The border breach provided a significant popularity boost to Hamas, which can claim it successfully broke through the closure that has deprived the coastal territory of normal trade and commerce.
Egypt has rejected any suggestion of assuming responsibility for the crowded, impoverished territory - a hot issue in light of comments this week by Israeli officials who said the border breach could relieve Israel of its burdens in Gaza.
Israel withdrew its troops and settlers from the territory in 2005, but it still controls access to Gaza, including Gaza's airspace and coastline. Israel also provides the fuel needed to run Gaza's only power plant. It has recently withheld that fuel, causing severe power outages.
First published: 11:23, 01.27.8