Hundreds of Palestinians have broken into the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing after fighters set off explosions along the border wall between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, Al Jazeera says.

Amr el Kahky, Al Jazeera's correspondent, reporting from a location close to the border, said on Wednesday that Egyptian security forces were trying to control the crowds.

Agencies quoted witnesses as saying that the forced entry happened just hours after a tense stand-off at Rafah.

Earlier on Tuesday, dozens of Hamas protesters stormed the 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 canons to push them back.

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

Israel later pledged to continue limited deliveries of fuel, food and medicine to Gaza after five days of a full blockade.

Appeal to Arabs

Palestinians have 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."

Egypt called on Hamas to urge residents of the Gaza Strip to avoid further unrest.

In Saturday's clashes, at least four Palestinians were wounded, medics said.

Eleven Egyptian policemen were injured, including one from gunfire and the other 10 from rocks thrown at them.

Sparring at UN

Israeli and Palestinian envoys, meanwhile, have traded accusations in the UN Security Council as the 15-nation body met to discuss the Gaza crisis.

Riyad Mansour, the permanent Palestinian observer to the UN, on Tuesday described the situation as "absolutely untenable".

"The Israeli policy of brinkmanship is creating a humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip, heightening fears and tensions, inciting, provoking and fuelling the vicious and dreaded cycle of violence," he said.

Gilad Cohen, the Israeli envoy, rejected Mansour's accusation that Israel was acting in violation of international law.

"It is the duty of all states to ensure the right to life and safety of its people, especially from vicious acts of violence and terrorism," Cohen told the council.

On the ground, early on Tuesday, two lorries carrying cooking gas and three with diesel for generators passed through Israel's Nahal Oz border crossing, east of Gaza City.

It marked the first time supplies had entered Gaza since late on Thursday, when Ehud Barak, the Israeli defense minister, ordered the territory 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.

But with Israel allowing limited supply, electricity was back in most of Gaza City by Tuesday afternoon.

Israeli tankers brought in 700,000 liters of fuel, enough to provide electricity to Gaza City for two days.

Decision on fuel

The Israeli defence ministry ruled late on Tuesday that 250,000 litres of diesel fuel could be transferred into Gaza daily, but the crossings would remain closed to other goods and people until further notice.

Israel has maintained all along that Hamas created an artificial crisis but on Tuesday it pledged to continue limited shipments of fuel, food and medicine to Gaza.

Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, said on Tuesday that US officials had spoken to their Israeli counterparts "about the importance of not allowing a humanitarian crisis to unfold".

Israeli officials were receptive, she said. Rice blames Hamas for the situation in Gaza.

The same day Arye Mekel, a spokesman for Israel's foreign ministry, pledged that the shipments would go on.

"We will continue [on Wednesday] and the coming days to deliver more aid to Gaza until all promised supplies get across," he said.

Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, however, 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.

However, Abbas said on Tuesday that he would not pull out of peace talks with Israel, deflecting pressure to cut off contacts.

Talks to continue

 "Halting contacts with Israel is useless," Abbas said in his first comment since the latest round of Israel-Hamas fighting erupted last week.

"On the contrary, we should intensify our contacts and our meetings to stop the suffering of our people."

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

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

PHOTO CAPTION

Gaza map

Al-Jazeera