(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-02-03 16:18

RAFAH, Gaza Strip - Egyptian troops closed the last breach in Egypt's frontier with the Gaza Strip on Sunday morning, witnesses and Hamas security officials said, bringing to an end a week and a half of free movement for Palestinian residents of the blockaded territory.

The troops were allowing Gazans and Egyptians who remained on the wrong side of the border to cross back but were no longer allowing new cross-border movement, according to witnesses and Hamas security officials in the border town of Rafah.

Palestinian children play at a breached border wall between Egypt and Gaza Strip February 2, 2008. [Agencies]

Egyptian soldiers patrolled in armored personnel carriers and stood in sandbagged emplacements on nearby rooftops, and dozens of Gazans looked on as the Egyptians resealed the border, the Hamas security officials said. No violence was reported.

The Hamas officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press.

Hamas militants blew up swaths of the Gaza-Egypt border on January 23 in an dramatic move aimed at ending a seven-month blockade imposed by Israel on Gaza with Egypt's cooperation. The move allowed hundreds of thousands of Gazans to pour into Egypt and stock up on supplies.

For 11 days, Egypt's border guards allowed the Palestinians to cross into Egypt and back, but on Saturday Egyptian authorities told Hamas officials that the border would be closed Sunday.

Mahmoud Zahar, a Hamas leader, said after a Saturday meeting with Egyptian officials that the closure would be temporary while the Egyptians search for a way to reopen the border. Egyptian officials were not available for comment on the Hamas claims, and 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. The Islamic group has allowed militants to fire near-daily rocket barrages at Israeli towns, leading Israel to tighten its sanctions.

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.

The border breach has sparked calls from Hamas leaders for closer ties between Egypt and Gaza, which currently depends on Israel for all of its supplies. The head of the Hamas government in Gaza, Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, said Saturday that 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.

Israel's Defense Ministry is currently 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.

Israel pulled out of Gaza in 2005 after a 38-year occupation, but retains control of most of Gaza's border crossings and is seen by the international community as bearing responsibility for the territory.

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.

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