Gaza border sealed off as Egypt-Hamas talks begin

Rafah: Talks began in Cairo to resolve a crisis triggered after militants blew holes in the Egypt-Gaza border last week.

The border was sealed off to Palestinian vehicles on Thursday.

Egyptian security forces and militants from the Islamist movement Hamas, which controls Gaza, were working in tandem to control the frontier, an Egyptian official said.

However, pedestrian traffic was still moving in both directions despite driving rain, and at Brazil Gate, Egyptian-registered vehicles laden with merchandise, were being allowed to move in both directions.

All breaches in the border barrier, which was blown up by militants on January 22 after Israel imposed a punishing blockade on Gaza, have been closed by fencing and barbed wire.

Hundreds of thousands of Gazans took advantage of the breach to swarm across into Egypt from their largely isolated and impoverished territory.