Cairo: A Hamas delegation has been meeting security officials in Egypt to discuss future arrangements for the control of the Egypt-Gaza border.

The Palestinians, led by former Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahhar, are trying to come to an agreement with Egypt over the contentious frontier.

It was the third such meeting between the two sides in the past two weeks.

Gazans poured into Egypt last month when the border fence was breached by Palestinian militants.

They streamed across the border in their hundreds of thousands to buy goods before the fence was eventually re-sealed.

For several hours on Saturday, shopkeepers across the Gaza Strip kept their stores closed as part of a strike protesting against the continuing Israeli blockade of the territory.