(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-02-04 08:07

RAFAH, Gaza Strip -- Egyptian troops closed the last breach in Egypt's border with the Gaza Strip on Sunday morning, ending 11 days of free movement for Palestinian residents of the blockaded territory, witnesses and Hamas security officials said.

Palestinian female supporters of the Islamic Hamas movement demonstrate during a protest to support the open border with Egypt, in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, February 2, 2008. [Agencies]

The troops were allowing Gazans and Egyptians to cross the border to return to their homes on the other side but prevented any new cross-border movement, according to witnesses and Hamas security officials in the border town of Rafah.

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. Israel issued no immediate comment on the closure.

Hamas militants blew up section of the Gaza-Egypt border wall on Jan. 23 in an attempt to end a seven-month blockade imposed on Gaza by Israel with Egypt's cooperation. The move allowed hundreds of thousands of Gazans to stock up on supplies in Egypt.

A senior Hamas leader said Saturday after meeting with Egyptian officials that Egypt would close the border in coordination with the militant group, which seized control of the territory in June.

But Mahmoud Zahar said 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. 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' violent seizure control of the tiny seaside territory, home to 1.5 million Palestinians, left Abbas controlling only the West Bank.

Hamas thwarted repeated attempts by Egypt to reseal the frontier as Palestinians flooded over the border.

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.

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.

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