Egypt closes border with Gaza

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. It was not clear if the two men arrested Saturday were those 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.

There is no fence along the desert border between Israel and Egypt and Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Sunday a barrier should be constructed.

"Building a fence on the Israel-Egypt border is a pressing need," Barak told an Israeli Cabinet meeting, saying the move would protect Israel from militant infiltrations and cross-border smuggling.

Talks with EU officials
According to Zahar, Egypt agreed to coordinate with Hamas on some border issues and to enable thousands of Palestinians stuck in Egypt to head to third countries for which they have visas or residency permits.

In an interview with AP Television News, Zahar suggested the Egyptians planned to reopen the border after talks with European officials arriving in the region.

"Tomorrow they (the Egyptians) are going to start dialogue with the European people in order to make an end for our sanctions and to allow opening of the gates freely and without preconditions," he said.

The EU foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, was expected to arrive in Cairo for talks with Egyptian officials later Saturday. The international Mideast envoy, Tony Blair, was also planning a trip to the region in coming days to address the border standoff.

Hamas breached the border several days after Israel imposed a complete blockade on Gaza, with Egyptian backing, in response to a rocket barrage from Gaza on Israeli border towns. The blockade tightened the already severely restricted access to the territory that Israel and Egypt imposed after Hamas' Gaza takeover.

The head of the Hamas government in Gaza, Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, said he would like to see Gaza's economy cut from Israel, and instead receive fuel and electricity from Egypt.

"We have said from the days of our election campaign that we want to move toward economic disengagement from the Israeli occupation," Haniyeh told the pro-Hamas daily Palestine. "Egypt has a greater ability to meet the needs of Gaza."

Some Israeli officials believe that would be good for Israel.

But Egypt, unwilling to assume responsibility for millions of Palestinians and officially recognize Hamas rule in Gaza, has reacted angrily to any such suggestion. An Israeli effort to transfer responsibility for Gaza would be likely to create a serious rupture between the two countries.

Israel's Defense Ministry is drafting an official position on the idea, security officials said Sunday. Some in Israel's defense establishment support the idea of allowing Gaza to increase its dependence on Egypt, reducing Israel's responsibility for the impoverished and violent territory, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to reveal internal ministry discussions.

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