Hamas in bid to reopen border

2008-02-19 17:09

Cairo - Hamas officials were holding talks with Egyptian security officials on Tuesday in a fresh bid to reopen the border with the impoverished Gaza Strip, a security source said.

Ayman Abu Tahar and Tarek Abu Hashem met the Egyptians at the Rafah border, which was blown open by militants on January 23, allowing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to flood into Egypt to stock up on desperately needed supplies.

"They are here to discuss the reopening of the Rafah border," the source told AFP.

The border - Gaza's only door to the outside world that bypasses Israel - was open for almost two weeks until it was sealed by Egyptian forces and Hamas on February 3.

Israel has increasingly tightened restrictions on Gaza, notably in June 2006 after militants seized an Israeli soldier in a deadly cross-border raid and a year later when Hamas violently seized control of the territory.

Since the border was resealed there has been disagreement over control of the frontier.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas says a 2005 deal he reached with Israel when his Palestinian Authority still controlled Gaza still stands.

Under that agreement, the Rafah crossing was to be overseen by European Union monitors with cameras enabling round-the-clock surveillance by Israel.

- AFP