The development reflected Egypt's intentions to contain the influx from the breached boundary, but worries grew among the Gazans that the Egyptians could soon completely seal the border.

On the wind-swept no man's land in the divided town of Rafah, Egyptian guards used sticks to beat the trunk of a white pickup with empty cooking gas canisters that tried to drive it into Egypt. The truck's Palestinian driver Hazem Abou Shanab spread his hands in dismay. "I only wanted to go fill up my canisters, I don't want to go back to Gaza without gas," Shanab said, but the guards wouldn't let him through.

Sporadic gunshots were heard coming from inside Gaza but it was not immediately clear who was shooting in the Hamas-controlled coastal strip.

A young bearded man, likely from Hamas' security, in a raincoat and with an AK-47 slung over his shoulder, said the militia was told Wednesday night not to let Palestinians into Egypt anymore.

The Egyptians meanwhile, were allowing vehicles with Egyptian car-plates back from Gaza. Since Hamas blew up the border wall over a week ago setting off the flood of Gazans eager to stock up on supplies and necessities here, Egyptian traders had also driven into the strip to sell their merchandize there.

But Gazans were increasingly concerned the shopping bonanza would soon be over and the border resealed.

"What is happening," a veiled Palestinian woman, Salima, in mid-50s, asked the Egyptian guards. They ignored her but one slightly nodded. "When are you going to close the border?" she asked.

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