Egypt has struggled to re-seal the border and contain hundreds of thousands of needy Gazans who poured across since militants blasted openings last Wednesday. -- PHOTO: AP

Egypt has struggled to re-seal the border and contain hundreds of thousands of needy Gazans who poured across since militants blasted openings last Wednesday to evade an Israeli blockade on the Hamas Islamist-run territory.

A reporter on the Egyptian side of the border town of Rafah saw hundreds of Palestinians leaving Egypt and only a handful of people crossing in from the Gaza Strip on Sunday.

'We wanted to buy food. It was very difficult. We could not find anything,' said 17-year-old Khalil Hamdan. 'We won't come back because all the products are finished.'

Hundreds of trucks were held up at a bridge that leads from mainland Egypt to the Sinai peninsula and Gaza. Merchants in the border town of Rafah said they were struggling to get supplies of food and cigarettes. Fuel was also running short.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said his country would take steps to control the border with Gaza 'as soon as possible' without giving details. Egyptian forces tried to seal the border last week but militants just bulldozed new openings.

VIDEO Palestinians leave Egypt (1:22)

In the town of El-Arish, near Rafah, police told Palestinians in the street that the border would soon be shut, witnesses said. Gazans were told to walk only on roads leading back towards the border and stopped from returning.

Egypt, the first Arab country to make peace with Israel, does not want to be seen as aiding the Israeli blockade.

However, it also fears the spread of Islamist influence and the effects of hosting so many Palestinians without identity papers.

Agreement in doubt
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's government said it had agreed with Cairo that it would run the crossing, excluding Hamas, which drove Mr Abbas's forces out of the impoverished territory of 1.5 million last June.

But Hamas said it had assurances from Egypt that there had been no deal. Mr Ismail Haniyeh, prime minister of the Hamas-led administration in Gaza, said it was sending a delegation to Cairo on Wednesday to discuss control of the crossings.

'We have one demand: The siege must be lifted,' Mr Haniyeh said. 'Rafah crossing must be reopened.' Mr Abbas's aides said he would meet Mr Mubarak in Cairo on Wednesday.

There was no sign of progress on the border agreement at a meeting between Mr Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Jerusalem on Sunday, where the Palestinian leader's aides had said he would seek support for the idea.

An Israeli official said the Gaza crossing was not discussed at length, but Mr Olmert told Mr Abbas the Jewish state would keep letting humanitarian supplies into Gaza. Israel said the embargo was imposed to counter rocket fire out of the territory.

'They spoke about the need to prevent a humanitarian crisis in Gaza,' Mr Olmert spokesman David Baker said.

Israel has so far resisted Mr Abbas's request to take control of Gaza crossings. Israeli officials said the request was under consideration but that they believed Mr Abbas's security forces would not be capable of doing the job anytime soon.

The fall of the border at Rafah has weakened a United States-backed campaign to curb the clout of Hamas, which refuses to give up its fight against Israel, and strengthen Mr Abbas by restarting peace talks with the Jewish state. -- REUTERS