Egypt said on Saturday it would continue to allow Gazans to cross the breached border and help them stock up on supplies on the fourth day of unfettered access, the official MENA news agency reported.
North Sinai Governor Ahmed Abdel-Hamid said that "Palestinians will continue to cross until they get all their needs of commodities and foodstuffs" in response to an Israeli lockdown on the impoverished territory of 1.5 million.
Egyptian security forces have been "instructed to facilitate the Palestinians' passage and guide them to the places where they could get their needs," Abdel-Hamid said.
He said he was coordinating with the Ministries of Social Solidarity and Industry "to secure large amounts of commodities and products to meet the needs of the Palestinians in the country" because many Egyptian shops were now out of stock.
The United Nations said at least 700,000 Gazans -- nearly half the territory's population of 1.5 million -- have poured into Egypt to stock up on desperately needed supplies since the heavy steel wall was blasted open on Tuesday.
Egyptian police on Saturday stood by as traffic continued to cross the border, having on Friday used electric batons and water cannon in a bid to herd Palestinians back into Gaza after setting a deadline for everyone to go home.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's government last week blocked fuel and aid shipments into Gaza amid violence in which 45 people, most of them militants, were killed in Israeli raids over the past 10 days.
Israel says its blockade strategy and raids are aimed at halting militant rocket fire on its territory, with 10 people lightly wounded over as many days from a barrage of some 200 rockets or mortar rounds.
The Palestinians and human rights groups such as Amnesty International say the blockade amounts to collective punishment.
