Israel steps up border security

Israel's military has stepped up operations along Gaza's frontier

Israel's military has strengthened positions along its frontier with Gaza ahead of a demonstration against the months-long blockade of the territory.

Three Hamas fighters were killed by Israeli air strikes near Gaza's border on Sunday, the group said.

Tens of thousands of Gazan women and children are expected to form a human chain stretching the length of the coastal enclave in Monday's protest.

Protest organisers say they have no intention of breaching the border.

Israel's Haaretz newspaper reported there are fears of casualties if the troops try to halt the demonstration.

"Israel will not intervene in demonstrations inside the Gaza Strip but it will ensure the defence of its territory and prevent any violation of its sovereign borders," said a joint statement released by Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defence Minister Ehud Barak.

"Israel will work to avoid a deterioration of the situation but declares unequivocally that Hamas must assume full responsibility if that happens," said the statement.

Day off school

Monday's demonstration has been organised by the Popular Anti-Siege Committee, a pro-Hamas group.

Organisers hope the chain will stretch along the border

"We do not have intentions of approaching the fence, either in the north or the south," said protest organiser Jamal Khudary.

"We hope all the participants will abide by the instructions and we will try to prevent any violations."

Hamas has said it backs the demonstration but did not organise it.

Hamas-controlled schools across the coastal enclave have given pupils time off to take part in the human chain protest.

An Israeli security source said the army was preparing for "all scenarios", Reuters reported.

"Obviously, if gunmen start shooting at the fence we will have to respond in kind and we are absolutely unwilling to countenance a situation where the fence is breached like it was at Rafah," Reuters reported the source as saying.

Last month, thousands of Gazans crossed the border into Egypt at Rafah, after militants blew holes in the frontier fence.

Smuggling tunnels

In Sunday's airstrikes, two Hamas fighters were killed near the Israeli border in Khan Younes, and another died in northern Gaza, the group said.

Israeli forces also detained 40 Palestinians and said they had discovered five smuggling tunnels along the territory's frontier.

Israel fears similar scenes to those after the Egyptian border breach

Israeli authorities fear a repetition of scenes from last month, when the fence separating Gaza from Egypt was demolished by Palestinian militants in several places near the Rafah crossing point.

Hundreds of thousands of Gazans poured through the breaches to buy essential goods before the border was resealed several days later.

Hamas officials have since raised the possibility of similar breaches along the border with Israel.

Israel's blockade of Gaza was imposed after the Islamist Hamas party routed secular Fatah forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas last June and seized control of the Gaza Strip.

Israel said the siege, which has prevented the flow of everything but essential humanitarian supplies, was in response to cross-border rocket attacks by militants in Gaza.

But Palestinians and several international agencies have said the sanctions amount to collective punishment of Gaza's 1.5 million civilians.

Egypt watches Gaza traffic go on

Vehicles are now commonly crossing the border

Thousands of Gazans are pouring into Egypt for a fourth day, despite Egyptian attempts to reseal the border.

For the first time many Palestinians were using cars to cross, rather than going on foot.

Hamas, which rules Gaza, reacted to Israeli attempts to isolate the hostile territory with a blockade by blowing open Gaza's border with Egypt.

Hopes for talks between Hamas and its rival Fatah to tackle the crisis have been dealt a blow.

In a speech, President Mahmoud Abbas reiterated he would only talk to Hamas if it retreated from its June takeover of the Gaza Strip.

Hamas, which had indicated it would accept an invitation to talks, says this insistence effectively sabotages any prospect of negotiations.

This Gaza crisis began nine days ago, when Israel cut off the seaside territory, denying it supplies. It said it was aiming to subdue rocket fire from Gaza, but its actions were widely condemned.

'Let us live'

On Saturday, Gazans continued to stream over the border to Egypt.

Egyptian riot police failed in a bid to close the border on Friday, and the news agency Associated Press said on Saturday that another attempt by riot police to deny access to the border by forming human chains was also abandoned.

"If only they would let us live, breathe a bit. Don't shut the border on us," shouted Mariam al-Shal, a Palestinian woman from the Khan Yunis refugee camp in Gaza, according to AFP news agency.

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 alarm

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.

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

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.

The breaching of the border has blown a big hole in the policy of trying to weaken Hamas by isolating it and sealing it in, says BBC analyst Sebastian Usher.

Some new system of controlling the border must now be found and it seems unlikely that this can be achieved without Hamas's involvement and agreement, he says.

But in his speech on Saturday, Mr Abbas reduced the prospect of talks with his Hamas rivals when he repeated demands that they reverse their takeover of Gaza, which he called a "crime".

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri denounced the move, saying it amounted to a "rejection" of a talks initiative.

Mr Abbas also urged Gazans to stop firing rockets into southern Israel, saying it gave Israel an "excuse" to punish the territory.

He said he would renew his offer to take control of Gaza's border crossings instead of Hamas during talks with the Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday.

The two are engaged in a new US-backed peace process that has excluded - and is rejected by - Hamas.