Egyptian security forces sealed off roads to al-Arish town, about 30 miles southwest of Gaza Strip, before hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who crossed the borders for shopping, witnesses said.
On Jan. 23, militants from Hamas, which rules Gaza, blew up the borders between Gaza and Egypt in southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah after Israeli closure on the impoverished Strip, dating back to last June, badly affected the well-being of the Palestinians.
The Egyptian forces succeeded to cut access to al-Arish but the borders are still open because wide parts of the 17-kilometer-long concrete and metal frontier turned into free markets.
In al-Arish, the Egyptian Central Security members forced the shops and the petrol service stations to close down in a bid to lessen the human flow.
The little temporary breach of the siege sped up political moves to find a solution for the closure of Gaza which resulted after Hamas fought security forces of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and seized control of the coastal enclave.
In statements published today, exiled Hamas politburo Chief Khaled Mashaal said his movement was ready to quit Abbas' house and office in preparation for talks, but insisted that the security services' compounds should be left to be discussed in the dialogue.
He added that the opening of the borders was a peaceful step "that needs to be completed because the issue was not a commercial reason for Gazans." Mashaal did not reveal when the talks would start.
President Abbas, who will meet Israeli Premier Ehud Olmert on Sunday, will demand that the Palestinian Authority (PA) takes control of crossing point into Gaza Strip to reopen them, Palestinian sources said.
Abbas is scheduled to visit Cairo on Wednesday for the same purpose.
Israel kept the passages closed because it refuses to deal with Hamas which runs the Palestinian side of the crossings.
Acting Palestinian Premier Salam Fayyad also discussed the issue with Omar Suleiman, chief of the Egyptian intelligence, during a visit to Egypt on Saturday.
Source: Xinhua
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