JERUSALEM, June 15, 2007 (AFP) - All crossings into the Gaza Strip have been closed indefinitely after Islamist group Hamas seized full control of the territory, the Israeli army said on Friday.

"The crossings are closed until further notice. There are constantly security assessments," an army spokeswoman said.

The closure includes not only the Erez crossing -- the route for travellers between the territory and Israel -- but also the Rafah border terminal with Egypt, the only window to the outside world for Palestinians in Gaza.

Only sporadic gunfire rattled out through Gaza City as Palestinians cautiously began to emerge from their homes after being holed up inside sheltering from factional fighting that killed 113 people in a week.

Radical Islamist movement Hamas announced overnight it had seized full control of the Gaza Strip, just hours after Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas sacked the Hamas-led unity government and declared a state of emergency.

Israel and the West consider Hamas a terrorist organisation following years of suicide bombings claimed by the group, although there has been no such claim for an attack inside the Jewish state since January 2005.

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