EGYPT WATCHES GAZA TRAFFIC GO ON!

For a fourth day, Egypt is grappling with the problem of what to do about the thousands of Palestinians spilling over its border with the Gaza Strip. On Saturday, heavy traffic continued across the border in both directions, AP news agency reported, after a bid by Egypt to reseal it failed on Friday.

AP also reported that for the first time many Palestinians were using cars to cross, rather than going on foot. The Palestinians are defying a blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip by Israel. Israel has said the blockade was necessary to try to halt rocket fire into Israel from Gaza. But it had faced accusations of imposing illegal "collective punishment" on residents of Gaza, which is controlled by the Islamist group Hamas.

On Friday, Egyptian police withdrew from the border area after violent skirmishes with Gazans, some of whom used a bulldozer to tear down parts of the border fence.

EGYPT-GAZA BORDER

12km (7.4 miles) long
Egyptian side patrolled by 750 soldiers under 2005 agreement with Israel
Border crossing terminal south of town of Rafah
PA control of terminal under EU supervision collapsed after Hamas takeover of Gaza in June 2007
Border closed almost continuously since

There appeared to be no attempt to halt the stream of cross-border traffic on Saturday, with AP reporting only two guards present at the main crossing. It said as well as Palestinians travelling into Egypt to stock up, and even to visit an Egyptian resort, some Egyptian vehicles were seen transporting supplies into Gaza.

Hundreds of thousands of people have surged into Egypt to buy supplies since the first breaches in the border wall were made on Wednesday. The UN has estimated that as much as half of Gaza's 1.5 million population has crossed the border in defiance of Israel's blockade, which was recently tightened leading to acute shortages.

Israel, alarmed at the ongoing breakdown in security on the Egypt-Gaza border, has closed the main road running along the border. Tourism sites and hiking trails have been closed. Security measures have been increased, according to the Israeli military, on fears that Israeli citizens could be vulnerable to attacks by Palestinians now free to travel in the area.

But Friday's failed bid by Egyptian riot police to plug gaps in the border was a humiliating setback for Cairo, which must now decide how to respond, say correspondents. Hamas said it respected Egypt's decision to close the border but it did nothing to assist the Egyptians on the ground.

Late on Friday, the United Nations Security Council failed to reach agreement on a state of "deep concern" about the situation.

GAZA BLOCKADE

17 January: Israel seals border following rise in rocket attacks
20 January: Gaza's only power plant shuts down
22 January: Israel eases restrictions
22 January: Egyptian border guards disperse Palestinian protest against closure
23 January: Border wall breached

A statement calling for talks had been in the council all week, but was finally blocked by Libya, which currently chairs the Security Council. Meanwhile, confusion surrounds reports that Egypt's president offered to host talks for rival Palestinian groups.

Hamas's leader in exile, Khaled Meshaal, told Reuters news agency his group would seek to make the dialogue a success. But the Egyptian foreign ministry told the BBC by text message that reports that Hosni Mubarak had invited Hamas and Fatah to Cairo for discussions were "not accurate".

Correspondents say the incursions by hundreds of thousands of Gazans are forcing Egypt, Israel and the international community to rethink their policy of trying to weaken the Hamas leadership by keeping the territory sealed.
BBC NEWS REPORT.