Egypt to close Gaza border, Hamas says

RAFAH, Gaza Strip — Egypt will close its breached border wall with Gaza today in coordination with Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that blew it up, a senior Hamas leader said Saturday after meeting with Egyptian officials.

But Mahmoud Zahar said the closure would be temporary while the Egyptians search for a way to reopen the border. Hamas blew the wall open on Jan. 23 to end a seven-month Israeli and Egypt blockade of Hamas-ruled Gaza.

Egyptian officials were not available for comment on the Hamas claims. It was not clear whether Egypt was considering the group's demand for a say in running the Egypt-Gaza border.

Any role for the Islamic militants on the border would be sure to anger the international community and Hamas' archrival, the moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, because it would amount to tacit recognition of Hamas rule in Gaza.

Hamas violently wrested control of the tiny seaside territory, home to 1.5 million Palestinians, in June, leaving Abbas controlling only the West Bank.

Since the border breach, hundreds of thousands of Gazans have flooded Egypt's border area and Hamas has thwarted repeated attempts by Egypt to reseal the frontier.

On Saturday, Egyptian security forces arrested two Palestinians carrying a bomb in el-Massoura, a village about 2.5 miles west of the border with Gaza, a Sinai security official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media. A police official in Cairo said the two had been trying to reach beach resorts in the southern Sinai.

On Friday, a Sinai intelligence official said Egyptian security forces were looking for four Palestinians who slipped into the country from Gaza and were suspected of planning suicide attacks against resorts. But it was unclear if the two men arrested Saturday were the same ones Egypt had been tracking.

At least 17 Palestinians have been arrested in the past days carrying weapons and explosives near the border and other remote parts of the Sinai desert.

Zahar said Egyptian officials told him they would restore order at the crossing.

"Egypt's message was very clear, that Sunday should be the day to put an end to this scene," Zahar told the Arab satellite TV station Al-Jazeera.

The Hamas leader, widely seen as the mastermind of Hamas' Gaza takeover, said the Islamic group would cooperate with Egypt in its efforts.