Hamas announced on Monday it had reached an agreement to seal the Rafah border crossing and would deploy troops to the area. The statement came a day after a meeting between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday. The two discussed the Gaza border issue but Israel rejected Palestinian requests to hand them full responsibility .. On Monday Egyptian storekeepers said they had run out of goods to sell to the Gazans, and some even shut down their stores. A top Iranian diplomat on Sunday offered Egypt his country's assistance in restoring calm to the Rafah border area.01/28/08
