Egypt to Keep Gaza Border Open Indefinitely

A security official says Egypt will keep its border with Gaza open indefinitely, easing the blockade on the territory's Palestinians and giving them a crucial link to the outside the world.

Egypt and Israel have maintained the blockade since Hamas took control of Gaza three years ago. But the official says the closure has failed to achieve its goals, including the release of an Israeli soldier held by Hamas since 2006.

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Egypt's announcement came after U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said the U.S. was closely consulting with Egypt and other allies to find new ways to "address the humanitarian, economic, security, and political aspects of the situation in Gaza." He spoke in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh after meeting Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Israel's deadly raid on an international flotilla of activists trying to break the blockade by sea last week brought attention to the issue.

The U.S. Embassy asked the Israeli government on Monday to investigate an incident in Jerusalem in which an American activist was hit by a flying tear gas canister during a demonstration.

Emily Henochowicz, a 21-year-old from Maryland, lost her left eye after being hit in the face with the canister fired by an Israeli policeman during the demonstration last week.

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The Egyptian official spoke Monday on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Meanwhile, the Israeli navy killed four Palestinian militants in diver suits off the coast of Gaza before dawn Monday, the Israeli military and Palestinian officials said.

The blockade of Gaza has been in place since 2007, when the Islamic militant Hamas seized the territory and it has kept out all but basic humanitarian goods. Israel and the West consider Hamas a terror group responsible for firing thousands of rockets at Israel and carrying out hundreds of attacks, including suicide bombings. Hamas does not recognize Israel's right to exist.

Israel hoped the blockade would weaken Hamas, prevent the entry of weapons and bring pressure for the release of an Israeli soldier captured in 2006, but those objectives have yet to be achieved.

The latest clash took place early Monday. The Israeli military said a naval force spotted the Palestinians in the waters off Gaza and opened fire. It claimed the forces had prevented an attack on Israeli targets.

The Palestinian militant group Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades said the four killed were members of its marine unit who were training in Gaza's waters. Al-Aqsa, a violent offshoot of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction, made the claim in a text message sent to reporters in Gaza. Four bodies were retrieved and taken to a hospital in central Gaza, said Moawiya Hassanain, a Palestinian health official. The Palestinian naval police said two people were still missing.

"The bloody escalation today is a desperate attempt by the occupation government to divert the world attention away from the massacre committed against the flotilla," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told reporters in Gaza.