Hamas on Wednesday demanded a central role in controlling the Gaza Strip's border with Egypt in an open challenge to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas ahead of crisis talks in Cairo.
Hamas Islamists, who seized control of Gaza in June after routing Abbas's secular Fatah forces, blasted open the Egyptian border last week in defiance of an Israeli-led blockade, allowing hundreds of thousands of Gazans to pour into Egypt to stock up on goods in short-supply.
Shunned by the West for refusing to renounce violence against Israel after winning Palestinian elections two years ago, Hamas signalled that it could prevent Egypt from re-sealing the border unless its own authority at the border crossing was recognised.
"Talking about a partial role contradicts reality," said senior Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar as he crossed through the Rafah border terminal into Egypt to take part in talks on the future of the breached border.
"The reality is that there is a legitimate government. We will not give up our legitimacy to anybody," he said.
Abbas will meet separately in Cairo with Egyptian leaders and has already won U.S., European and Arab backing for taking control of the Rafah crossing, excluding Hamas.
"We have international support," Abbas aide Yasser Abed Rabbo said. "Hamas should stay out of this."
It is unclear how Abbas, the Fatah leader, would be able to exert control over Rafah given opposition from Hamas, whose forces have command on the ground.
Hamas sought on Wednesday to make the case that it would be capable of managing the Rafah crossing itself.
The group allowed television cameras and reporters into the terminal to watch Zahar and other Hamas leaders get their passports stamped by Hamas border guards.
Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said Hamas "does not accept anything less than a key role in the Rafah crossing. This is natural given the legitimacy Hamas won at the ballot box."
Israel signalled on Tuesday it would not stand in the way of Abbas taking control of Gaza's border with Egypt, but officials expressed doubt that his forces could stand up to Hamas's.
Gaza's border crossings have emerged as the main battleground in a factional power struggle between Hamas and Abbas, whose authority has been limited to the Israeli-occupied West Bank, home to 2.5 million Palestinians, since Gaza's takeover in June.
Abbas has proposed taking over all of Gaza's crossing, including those with Israel, seeking strategic footholds in the Hamas-controlled enclave, home to 1.5 million. Hamas sees the effort as part of a campaign to limit its power.
