Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will hold crisis talks today on how to limit Hamas control over Gaza's breached border with Egypt.
Mr Abbas wants to take over Gaza's border crossings, including the one with Egypt that Hamas blasted open on Wednesday.
Hundreds of thousands of Gazans have since poured across the border into Egypt to stock up on goods in short supply because of an Israeli-led blockade of the Hamas-controlled territory.
Israel has so far resisted the idea of giving Mr Abbas and his West Bank-based government control of the Gaza crossings, citing concerns about security.
Mr Abbas asserts that his control over the crossings would relieve Israel's clampdown on Gaza, imposed after Hamas routed rival Fatah forces in the coastal territory last June.
In a challenge to the Palestinian president, Hamas said yesterday it was prepared to restore the ruptured border with Egypt through direct diplomacy with Cairo.
Israel has sought to put the onus on Egypt to control Gaza's southern border.
Israel, which occupied the impoverished territory in 1967, pulled troops and settlers out in 2005 but still controls its northern and eastern borders, airspace and coastal waters, and has imposed a blockade it says is meant to counter militant rocket fire.
Israel tightened its cordon earlier this month by closing the crossings it controls. But, after an international outcry, fuel and aid supplies were partially restored.
A spokesperson for Mr Olmert said the meeting with Mr Abbas would focus on the Gaza Strip, but he declined to say whether the prime minister was considering handing over control of the crossings.
Mr Abbas is expected to travel to Egypt on Wednesday for talks. His prime minister, Salam Fayyad, held talks in Cairo over the weekend.
