(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-01-28 09:12

A rare rainstorm turned dusty thoroughfares into sludge and some shops were closed, either because of bad weather or because supplies had run low.

Checkpoints restricted the flow of Egyptian cars and trucks toward Rafah, limiting the flow of goods to restock shelves.

Gasoline vendors were still filling jerry cans to take back to Gaza.

"I can afford to get wet, but I can't afford to go hungry," said Gazan Adel Abdullah Moussa, dripping wet in the rain and carrying a yellow gas can in one hand and his year-old baby in the other.

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The old joint border arrangement for Gaza was brokered by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in 2005 -- nearly two years before Hamas took over the area and ousted the Palestinian Authority of moderate President Mahmoud Abbas, who heads Fatah.

"We have to commit to the standing international agreement," Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit told reporters Sunday after meeting with Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in Cairo.

But Hamas wants a new border security scheme.

"This agreement has become part of past history, and the Palestinian people will not accept turning back to the old procedure," said Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza City.

Hamas says its main objection to the old system is that Israel uses cameras and computers to track everyone who passes in and out of Gaza, even though the Jewish state pulled its troops and settlers out of the strip in 2005.

"We don't accept a continued Israeli veto on the movement, the exit and entry through Rafah," Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said.

While it does not say so publicly, Hamas could be seeking to assume the Palestinian Authority's share of responsibility for the border.

But that idea will likely meet with stiff resistance from Israel, Egypt and the international community, which have largely isolated Hamas over its refusal to recognize Israel's right to exist and to renounce militancy.

Israel closed its border with Gaza last week and cut off fuel shipments following intensified rocket barrages from the territory.

Both Egypt and Israel restricted the movement of people and goods in and out of Gaza after Hamas won the election in 2006 and further tightened the closure after the group seized control of the area by force from Fatah in June.

Iran, which has ties to Hamas, offered to help Egypt deal the growing border chaos, said Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki. Iran and Egypt have no formal relations, and the offer came during a rare visit to Cairo by a top Iranian diplomat. Zaki gave no details on the offer, but said Egypt welcomes cooperation between the two countries through their Red Crescent branches.

Israel has expressed growing concern about the possible influx of Palestinian militants and weapons into areas of Egypt that border Israel.

Still, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert promised Abbas on Sunday that Israel would not let a humanitarian crisis develop in Gaza.

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