(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-01-24 10:17

Egypt is in a bind over how to respond. It has largely kept its border with Gaza closed since the Hamas takeover amid concerns of a spillover of Hamas-style militancy into Egypt. But Egypt's government is also under popular pressure at home to help impoverished Gazans.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said he told his border officials to let the Palestinians cross because they were "starving" under the Israeli blockade. However, not only have there been no cases of starvation reported, but there are no claims of starvation from officials or aid workers, and none are visible to anyone who lives or works in Gaza.

There are acute shortages of fuel in Gaza, and supplies of fresh meat and produce are running low, which have raised the specter of a humanitarian emergency.

The supreme Hamas leader, Khaled Mashaal, said his group is willing to work with Egypt and Hamas' rival, moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, on a shared border arrangement.

"We are concerned about that situation and frankly I know the Egyptians are as well," State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said.

David Welch, assistant secretary of state for the Middle East, and U.S. diplomats in Cairo talked to Egyptian authorities about the situation, Casey said. He said the Egyptians take border security seriously and he had no indication the situation was affecting Israeli-Palestinian relations for now.

An Arab diplomat in Washington said Egypt indicated to the U.S. that the flow of people would end by midday Thursday and pledged to rebuild the smashed barrier. A senior U.S. official, however, said Egypt was not specific on when the border would be closed but promised the situation would not continue for long.

"They will make an effort first to contain the crowd on their side of the border so they don't go anywhere, and then coax people back. We'll see tomorrow how that has worked," said the official, who like the Arab diplomat, insisted on not being quoted by name in return for describing the conversations between the two governments.

White House press secretary Dana Perino earlier blamed Hamas for the chaos in Gaza and called the instability "very troubling" for Israel.

Constant targeting of Israel by militant rocket squads in Gaza "has caused Israel to implement the blockade," Perino said. "Hamas is not in control of the situation, they are not governing well, and the people of the -- the Palestinian people are starting to realize that they do have a choice."

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he won't allow Gazans to live ordinary lives while Israelis next to Gaza are suffering from daily rocket attacks.

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