Senior officials of the Islamic Resistance Movement, also known as Hamas, have headed to the Egyptian capital, Cairo, to discuss opening of the Gaza-Egypt passage.

Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar arrived in Egypt before a Hamas delegation to arrive from Syria for talks with Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman.

Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar.

"We are going to evaluate with the Egyptian side the commitment of Israel to the ceasefire, especially the partial opening of the gates. We are also going to continue discussion about how to open the Rafah crossing border by participation of all the Palestinian parties for the sake of all the Palestinian people."

For months, the crossings have been cracked open only for humanitarian shipments, in an effort to pressure Palestinian militants to stop barraging southern Israel with rockets and mortars.

So far the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which began nearly three weeks ago, is considered not to have eased conditions in Gaza because of the frequent closures.