Dozens of Palestinian protesters have stormed the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, demanding that the frontier be opened to ease the blockade imposed on the territory by Israel.

Several protesters were wounded as Egyptian police opened fire in the air and used batons and water cannons to push back the protesters.

The demonstrations on Tuesday came as Israel allowed a few fuel trucks into Gaza, easing the punishing blockade of the Hamas-run territory.

Rafah is the only border crossing out of the Gaza Strip that bypasses Israel.

Some angry protesters complained that Gaza was under siege from both Israel and neighboring Arabs.

Um Ahmad, a Palestinian woman demonstrating at the Rafah crossing, told Al Jazeera: "The Arabs should be united with us and not against us. This is an appeal to all the Arabs. They should help us lift the blockade, they should stand with us."

The protesters managed to get into the crossing after police retreated from their positions in an attempt to contain the crowd.

Humanitarian crisis

Meanwhile, amid mounting international fears of a humanitarian crisis, two lorries carrying cooking gas and three with diesel for generators passed through Israel's Nahal Oz border crossing, east of Gaza City, early on Tuesday morning.

It marked the first time supplies had entered Gaza since late on Thursday, when Ehud Barak, the Israeli defense minister, ordered the strip sealed off in response to rocket fire.

Gaza City was plunged into darkness after its only power plant was shut down on Sunday, as fuel supplies dried up under the Israeli blockade.

The director of Gaza power station on Tuesday said that he was hoping to resume generating electricity within the coming hours.

"As soon as the necessary quantities of fuel oil arrive, we will restart the turbines," Rafiq Maliha told Al Jazeera. "We need at least four hours to do it."

The supply of fuel, however, is unpredictable.

"The problem we face right now is that we have no reserve. And since we have no reserve, we have no plan. Simply, if we receive sufficient fuel continuously, we will operate this plant. But if the supply stops, we will not be able to manage our production."

Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, called on Israel to fully lift the blockade, calling a partial easing of the lockdown "insufficient".

"This is insufficient and we will continue our efforts to get a total lifting of the blockade," Abbas told reporters in the West Bank town of Ramallah after talks with Maxime Verhagen, the visiting Dutch foreign minister.

Abbas also renewed his criticism of rocket fire against Israel from Gaza.

"It is not the people who fire these rockets," Abbas said. "We have condemned these futile launchings in the past and we continue to do so. They must stop."

International concern

The impact of the blockade, which has left homes in the dark, affected hospitals and caused sewage to flood the streets, has sparked international condemnation.

The Iraqi parliament unanimously condemned Israeli raids and and its siege of the Gaza Strip on Tuesday.

The parliament approved a draft law to provide Gazans with aid, including food, medicine and oil in co-ordination with the Arab League and the United Nations.

On Monday, the European Union accused Israel of the "collective punishment" of Gaza's civilian population.

Kyriacos Triantaphyllides, a European parliament member, told Al Jazeera: "What is happening there [in Gaza] is a major catastrophe on very big scale and it is not enough just to lift the blockade for a little while.

"I think the action of Israel against Gaza, which constitutes collective punishment for the whole people of Gaza, is to be deplored by the international community. We do not agree with this kind of measures.

"I think the international community should make it absolutely clear to the Israelis that if they wish the peace process to go ahead, they should stop these tactics, which can only bring catastrophe and perhaps an end to peace process."

The United Nations had warned that it would be forced to stop distributing food aid to hundreds of thousands of people within days if the lockdown continued.

The UN Security Council is to hold an emergency meeting later on Tuesday to discuss the situation following a request from Arab states.

The Israeli defense minister had ordered the easing of the blockade late on Monday. He gave permission for fuel deliveries for the power station on Tuesday.

"This will be enough for an unspecified period, depending on the needs of the Gaza Strip," a defense ministry spokesman told AFP.

Medicine and "essential goods of a humanitarian nature" would be trucked in on Wednesday, the spokesman added.

Aryeh Mekel, the foreign ministry spokesman, said the fuel deliveries would total 2.2 million litres, which "should be enough for the power plant to run for a week".

He said 50 truckloads of humanitarian aid would be allowed in, carrying basic food and medicines. Thirteen of the trucks would contain aid supplied by Jordan.

The easing of the blockade was welcomed by Khaled Meshaal, Hamas leader, from his base in exile in Damascus.

Meshaal stressed however that the movement, which took control of Gaza after a week of deadly clashes against rival faction Fatah last June, remained committed to the armed struggle against Israel.

PHOTO CAPTION

Hamas leaders were forced to meet by candlelight on Tuesday in the besieged Gaza Strip