A senior Hamas official today tried to sneak £434,000 into the Gaza Strip, hiding 500-euro bills in a white pouch tucked under his shirt in the first major cash smuggling attempt by an increasingly desperate Hamas government choked by Western economic sanctions.

The tense situation at the Gaza-Egypt border was brought under control today after it was stormed by a group of rebel policemen furious over a colleague’s killing, the Palestinian police chief said.

Palestinian policemen angry over growing lawlessness in the Gaza Strip stormed the Gaza-Egypt border crossing today, scaring off European monitors who fled the area and forcing the border to close.