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For the first time since a pair of bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three people and injuring more than 260 others in mid-April, the surviving bombing suspect is expected to be in court to hear charges leveled against him Wednesday.

A probable cause hearing for Dzhokar Tsarnaev, 19, will be held at 3:30 p.m. ET at the same South Boston federal courthouse where notorious Boston mobster James "Whitey" Bulger's trial is underway. Authorities told ABC News there will be a heavy police presence around the courthouse as charges contained in a 30-count indictment against Tsarnaev are laid out.

Tsarnaev is charged with killing three people in the April 15 bombing – restaurant manager Krystle Marie Campbell, Boston University student Lingzi Lu and 8-year-old Martin Richard – as well as taking part in the murder of MIT police officer Sean Collier, who was fatally shot days after the bombing. Tsarnaev is also charged with causing grievance injury to MBTA police officer Richard Donahue and an assortment of federal terror-related crimes. Tsarnaev was seriously wounded in a firefight with police before he was apprehended.

Families of the slain and bomb victims who suffered amputations, burns, and debilitating injuries are expected to attend tomorrow's proceeding to stare down "the face of evil," as the mother of two of the severely injured told ABC News.

"It has been incredibly hard to accept what happened to my boys,'' said Liz Norden, whose sons Paul and JP each lost a leg in the attack. "I'm angry. I want to be there."

Tsarnaev is also facing charges stemming from a bomb and bullet battle that he and his older brother, Tamerlan, 26, allegedly engaged in with police in suburban Watertown hours after the FBI released their photographs to the public days after the bombing. Tamerlan Tsarnaev was shot during the firefight but was also mortally wounded by his brother. According to the indictment against Dzhokhar Tsarnaev unsealed earlier this month, prosecutors revealed that three Watertown Police Officers had tackled Tamerlan Tsarnaev and were trying to handcuff him when Dzhokhar jumped into a vehicle and "drove it directly" at the officers.

"He barely missed Sergeant Jeffrey Pugliese, who was attempting to drag Tamerlan Tsarnaev to safety,'' the indictment states. "Then Dzhokhar Tsarnaev ran over Tamerlan Tsarnaev, seriously injuring him and contributing to his death."

The indictment also included a timeline of the terror that erupted along the final stretch of the 26-mile marathon route.

The first blast, prosecutors stated, went off in front of Marathon Sports at 671 Boylston Street at 2:49 pm – detonated by Tamerlan Tsarnaev using a cell phone after he received a call from Dzhokhar giving him the okay.

Krystle Campbell was killed in that first explosion, which also resulted in the "maiming" of many others, the indictment states. The second bomb was "detonated by Dzhokhar Tsarnaev" after he placed it in front of the Forum Restaurant. That blast killed the little boy and the BU student, according to the indictment, and seriously injured dozens of others.

Those who survived the finish line blasts were seriously wounded. Among them were 15 victims who lost a limb – including the Norden brothers and Martin Richard's younger sister, 7-year-old Jane, whose left leg was lost below the knee. Other victims were partially blinded, like the slain boy's mother Denise Richard, or suffered permanent hearing loss, like Bill Richard, the boy's father.

As emergency responders and marathon volunteers and runners attended to the wounded, the Tsarnaevs were captured on surveillance videos calmly hustling away from the carnage.

On April 18, the FBI released photographs of the two men, then unidentified, in baseball caps along with a warning that they were "armed and dangerous."

Once their photos were disseminated, the Tsarnaev brothers "armed themselves with five IEDs, a Ruger P95 semiautomatic handgun, ammunition for the Ruger, a machete, and a hunting knife and drove to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology," the indictment says.

That's where MIT Police Officer Sean Collier was just 35 minutes away from finishing his shift. The indictment says Tamerlan Tsarnaev shot him in the head at "close range" with the Ruger 9mm handgun as his younger brother tried to steal Collier's service revolver from his gun belt.

After the officer's murder, the Tsarnaev brothers are accused of carjacking and kidnapping another man. The carjacking victim told police that Tamerlan Tsarnaev pointed a gun at him and said: "Did you hear about the Boston explosion? I did that," according to an affidavit filed by FBI agent Daniel R. Genck.

Tsarnaev then climbed into the Mercedes SUV and removed the gun's magazine, showed the driver the round in the chamber, and then reloaded the weapon and added, "I am serious."

The victim was driven around to collect money from various ATMs but claimed he escaped at a gas station and called 911. Police used that man's cell phone – left behind in the stolen car – to track the brothers to Watertown where a chase ensued.

During the chase, the brothers hurled two homemade bombs onto Dexter Street at police and then "a gun fight ensued between the car's occupants and law enforcement officers,'' according to Genck's affidavit.

After Tsarnaev fled the Watertown gun battle just before 1 a.m. ET on April 19, a manhunt was launched in the blue-collar suburb. He was found later that day wounded and bleeding in a boat dry-docked in a Watertown resident's backyard.

"He had visible injuries, including apparent gunshot wounds to the head, neck, legs and hand,'' the affidavit states. The one-time nursing student was carrying his University of Massachusetts/Dartmouth ID card when he was pulled from the boat.

As he hid, Tsarnaev "wrote a message on an inside wall and beams of the boat that said (among other things): 'We Muslims are one body, you hurt one, you hurt us all,''' the indictment states.

Massachusetts law enforcement sources told ABC News that one of the "other things" mentioned in the indictment were the words "F--- America." Investigators recovered additional explosives in two cars -- the green Honda and the Mercedes SUV -- left in Watertown by the Tsarnaev brothers, the affidavit states.

The Tsarnaev family settled in Cambridge after applying for, and receiving asylum, a decade ago, according to testimony from homeland security officials at Congressional hearings in the aftermath of the blast. Congressman William Keating (D-Mass.) was among the federal lawmakers who met with Russian officials in May and told reporters upon his return that a domestic violence arrest prevented Tamerlan Tsarnaev from receiving citizenship, but Dzhokhar became a naturalized U.S. citizen at a ceremony held in Boston on September 11, 2012.

Dzhokhar's parents are back in Russia living in the Dagestani city of Makhachkala. It is unclear if they have traveled to the United States to attend their son's court hearing tomorrow. His mother, Zubeidat Tsarnaev, has an open arrest warrant in Massachusetts in connection with a shoplifting charge and could be arrested upon her return, prosecutors have said.

Tsarnaev has been held at Fort Devens, where supporters have deposited money into his prison account, he told his mother in a phone call to Russia.

Michele McPhee is a Boston-based freelance writer and frequent contributor to ABC News.

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood on Tuesday rejected a new timetable announced by the military-backed interim leadership that sets a fast track for amending the Islamist-drafted constitution and holding new parliamentary and presidential elections by early next year.

The quick issuing of the transition plan showed how Egypt's new leadership is shrugging off Islamists' vows to reverse the military's ousting of President Mohammed Morsi and wants to quickly entrench a post-Morsi political system.

Egypt's military also likely aims to show the United States and other Western nations that the country is moving quickly back to an elected civilian leadership. Washington has expressed concern over the removal of Egypt's first freely elected president, and if the U.S. government determines that the army's move qualifies as a coup it would have to cut off more than a $1 billion in aid to Egypt, mostly to the military. The Obama administration has said doing so would not be in U.S. interests.

Egypt's political divide was only further enflamed Monday by one of the worst single incidents of bloodshed in 2 ½ years of turmoil: Security forces killed more than 50 pro-Morsi protesters in clashes at a sit-in by Islamists. The military accused armed Islamists of sparking the fighting, but Morsi supporters said troop opened fire on them without provocation after dawn prayers.

Since then, the military and allied media have depicted the campaign to restore Morsi as increasingly violent and infused with armed extremists.

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Egyptian policemen march with a vehicle carrying the body of their comrade, killed Monday in Cairo o …

An Egyptian security official said 650 people were arrested, most during Monday's violence, for allegedly trying to storm the Republican Guard headquarters. The military claims that is what sparked the violence that led to the deaths. Protesters and Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood deny any attack took place, saying the troops descended on their sit-in outside the headquarters and started firing.

The official said there were Syrian and Palestinian nationals among those arrested — an apparent attempt to portray the sit-in as including foreign militants. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press.

Islamists, in turn, have talked of the military aiming to crush them after what they say was a coup to wreck democracy.

Essam el-Erian, a senior Brotherhood figure and deputy head of its Freedom and Justice Party, rejected the transition timetable, saying it takes the country "back to zero."

"The cowards are not sleeping, but Egypt will not surrender. The people created their constitution with their votes," he wrote on his Facebook page, referring to the constitution that Islamists pushed to finalization and then was passed in a national referendum during Morsi's year in office.

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In this Monday, June 17, 2013 photo, deputy head of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Par …

He said the military and its allies were targeting "not just the president but the nation's identity, the rights and freedoms of the people and the democratic system enshrined in the constitution."

The constitution passed under Morsi — and suspended since his fall — was written by an assembly created by the first post-Mubarak parliament, elected in 2011-2012. But the panel was deeply controversial.

Reflecting the parliament, the constituent assembly had a strong Islamist majority. Most non-Islamists eventually abandoned the assembly, complaining that the Brotherhood and its allies were imposing their will. Courts were considering whether to dissolve the panel but Morsi unilaterally decreed that they could not while his allies rushed to finalize the draft.

The final version had a strong Islamist flavor, deepening requirements for laws to abide by Shariah. The document passed in a referendum with around 60 percent of the vote — but only around 30 percent of voters casting ballots.

Under the timetable issued Monday by interim president Adly Mansour, two appointed panels would be created.

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This image made from video released by the Egyptian military on Monday, July 8, 2013, which is consi …

One, made up of judges, would come up with amendments. The other, larger body consisting of representatives of society and political movements would debate the amendments and approve them.

The new constitution would be put to a referendum within 4 ½ months from now.

Elections for a new parliament would be held within two months of that. Once the new parliament convenes, it would have a week to set a date for presidential elections.

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A Free Syrian Army fighter walks inside the Grand Umayyad mosque in Aleppo. Picture taken July 8, 2013. REUTERS/Muzaffar Salman

By Erika Solomon

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian rebels have intensified their blockade of government-held areas in the northern city of Aleppo, where residents now face severe food shortages, opposition activists said on Tuesday.

Many activists condemn the tactic, aimed at weakening the supply routes of President Bashar al-Assad's forces, arguing that it indiscriminately punishes more than 2 million people living in the western part of the city still held by the army.

Aleppo has been in a stalemate since nearly a year ago, when rebels launched an offensive and seized half of the city.

"This is a crime ... Some of our rebel forces, God reform them, are participating in this blockade. Prices are soaring at an unimaginable rate. There is now horrible scarcity," said an activist speaking by Skype, who asked not to be named.

Rebels have been working for months to block roads leading into western Aleppo, but food scarcity only became a serious problem this week. The fighters decided for the first time to block a highway once left open to civilians, according to an Aleppo-based activist who asked not to be named. Previously, they had only attacked Assad's forces there.

A rebel fighter in Aleppo said the blockade on residents was not intentional, but rather an unfortunate side effect of rebel clashes with the army.

"This is really because of the battles. It's not just the rebels' fault, the army is also firing on any car that goes toward the west," said the fighter, who calls himself Ahmad.

"The regime has plenty of food to feed its fighters, but to hell with its own people."

"CROSSING OF DEATH"

He did however acknowledge that a few roads, such as the Bustan al-Qasr route, had been blocked by rebel units. Locals had used it to move food to the west from the rebel-held east.

Activists say food is now cheaper in rebel areas, which themselves suffered severe scarcity a few months earlier due to army blockades and air raids.

Residents in western Aleppo say food prices have jumped to more than ten times their original level and basics such as bread and flour have become harder to find. Only products such as bulgur wheat and rice are still regularly available.

The cost of a jar of yogurt, a staple of the Syrian diet, is now 1,300 Syrian pounds ($7), up from 100 pounds (50 cents).

Many Syrians have lost their jobs in the country's bloody two-year war and find it hard to buy food. With the currency plunging, even state employees still being paid will struggle if food supplies continue to be blocked. Their salaries are now worth only about $105 a month.

Most routes into western Aleppo are being actively blocked by rebels or are the scene of fierce clashes, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a pro-opposition monitoring group.

"The only road that is still somewhat useable is one near the district of Bustan al-Qasr, but it is so dangerous now that people call it 'The Crossing of Death'," said Rami Abdelrahman, head of the Observatory.

Some rebel groups have become increasingly interested in using military tactics that threaten civilian areas as much as army sites in territory held by Assad's forces.

AIR STRIKES

A rebel commander near Assad's stronghold on the Mediterranean coast said this week that it was time to start shelling civilian areas to raise pressure on Assad. He justified the tactic by pointing to the daily air and artillery strikes used by Assad's forces around Syria that kill dozens daily.

More than 100,000 people have died in Syria's two-year conflict. Sectarian violence is also increasing, pitting an opposition led mostly by the Sunni Muslim majority against the country's minorities, particularly Assad's Alawite sect.

Many minority groups live in the districts now being blockaded by rebels.

One former Alawite resident of western Aleppo in contact with relatives in the city said his mother and neighbors were stockpiling food.

"They have been looking after each other and putting together what they have. I think they will be able to get by for about a month," he said.

Some opposition social media groups, such as the Facebook group "Aleppo Now", urged activists to help residents break through the blockade "using all means, legal or illegal".

They argued it would be hypocritical not to help, since residents in western Aleppo allowed in thousands of locals from eastern Aleppo last summer, when the army launched air raids to stop a rebel advance.

(Reporting by Erika Solomon; Editing by Giles Elgood)

BEIRUT (AP) — A powerful car bomb exploded in a Hezbollah stronghold in the southern suburbs of Beirut on Tuesday, wounding at least 53 people in the most troubling sign yet that Syria's civil war is beginning to consume its smaller neighbor.

The blast in the heart of the Shiite militant group's bastion of support raised the worrying specter of Lebanon being pulled into the violent Sunni-Shiite struggle in the region, with sectarian killings similar to those plaguing Syria and Iraq.

The Syrian conflict, now in its third year, is whipping up sectarian fervor. Sunni-Shiite tensions have risen sharply, particularly since Hezbollah raised its profile by openly fighting alongside President Bashar Assad's forces. Lebanese Sunnis support the rebels fighting to topple Assad.

While there was no immediate claim of responsibility, there have been growing fears in Lebanon that Hezbollah could face retaliation for its now overt role fighting alongside Assad's troops. The group's fighters played a key role in a recent regime victory to retake control of the strategic town of Qusair, near the Lebanese border, where rebels held sway for more than a year. Syrian activists say Hezbollah fighters are now aiding a regime offensive in the besieged city of Homs.

Syria-based rebels and militant Islamist groups have threatened to target Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon in retaliation.

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Security forces stand at the scene of a bombing in the Beir el-Abed, a southern suburb of Beirut, Le …

The U.N. Security Council strongly condemned the terrorist attack, underlined the need to bring the perpetrators to justice, and appealed to the Lebanese people "to preserve national unity in the face of attempts to undermine the country's stability."

The car bomb struck a bustling commercial and residential neighborhood in Beir el-Abed, an area of particularly strong Hezbollah support, as many Lebanese Shiites began observing the holy month of Ramadan. The blast went off in a parking lot near the Islamic Coop, a supermarket usually packed with shoppers.

"The explosion was so strong I thought it was an Israeli air raid," said Mohammad al-Zein, who lives near the blast site. "My wife was sleeping in bed and all the glass fell on her, injuring her in the mouth, arms and legs."

Beir el-Abed is only few hundred yards (meters) from what is known as Hezbollah's "security square," where many of the party's officials live and have offices. It was heavily bombed by Israeli warplanes during the monthlong war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006.

The area, where Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah once received dignitaries before the 2006 war, was completely destroyed by Israeli airstrikes. He has since gone underground, only rarely appearing in public and never for more than few minutes, fearing Israeli assassination.

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Security forces stand at the scene of a bombing in the Beir el-Abed, a southern suburb of Beirut, Le …

Tuesday's attack inflamed long-simmering tensions in Lebanon, where deadly clashes between Shiites and Sunnis have grown increasingly common as the civil war in Syria has taken on ever darker sectarian overtones. Some Sunnis in Lebanon, many of whom support Syria's rebels, have expressed resentment over what they see as Hezbollah's unchecked power in the country.

The anger was clear among residents of Dahyeh, Hezbollah's stronghold in Beirut's southern suburbs. At the scene of the explosion, some cursed Sunni politicians and Syrian rebels, calling them Israeli agents.

With smoke still hanging in the air, about 100 outraged Hezbollah supporters stormed through the area, carrying posters of Nasrallah and chanting sectarian slogans.

"Shiite blood is boiling!" they shouted as dozens of Hezbollah operatives wearing red caps and holding radios kept watch.

At one point, the Hezbollah agents fired in the air to disperse protesters pelting the interior minister with stones after he inspected the scene of the blast, trapping him for 45 minutes in a building before he was escorted through a backdoor.

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Security forces and civilians stand at the scene of a bombing in the Beir el-Abed, a southern suburb …

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel is seen by some Shiites as sympathetic to hard-line Sunni cleric Ahmad al-Assir, who has agitated against Hezbollah for months and is now on the run.

Clashes between al-Assir's supporters and Lebanese army troops last month in the coastal city of Sidon further increased sectarian tensions in the country.

"We, the sons of Imam Hussein, have been targeted for 1,400 years," said Abbas Kobeissi, a 32-year-old barber being treated for head wounds from flying glass after Tuesday's blast. He referred to the grandson of Islam's Prophet Muhammad, a key figure in Shiite Islam whose death in the 7th century increased divisions between Sunnis and Shiites.

"History is repeating itself," Kobeissi added. "This is a message to Dahyeh. They (Hezbollah) think this will make people rise against the resistance."

Tuesday's explosion was one of the biggest in the capital's southern suburbs since the end of Lebanon's 15-year civil war in 1990, and a major breach of a tightly controlled, high security area.

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Security forces and civilians stand at the scene of a bombing in the Beir el-Abed, a southern suburb …

"It is a large area, heavily populated. No force in the world can protect every area and every street," Hezbollah lawmaker Ali Moqdad said.

The breach raised questions about the group's ability to control the anger it helped unleash through its involvement in the Syrian civil war. At the same time, Lebanese Sunni groups have also joined the fight alongside Syria's rebels, offering logistic and other support.

"Both sides, Hezbollah and Sunni fighters, are directly involved in the Syrian conflict and it's becoming increasingly clear that it's impossible to keep the fighting there away from Lebanon," said Ayham Kamel, a Middle East analyst at the Eurasia Group in London.

"The Syrian conflict has put Hezbollah in a tough spot, with limited choices for its leader Hassan Nasrallah to pursue," he said. "There is a regional Sunni-Shiite confrontation going on in Syria and that puts pressure on all parties in Lebanon, including Hezbollah."

Syria's civil war is increasingly being fought along sectarian lines, with Sunnis dominating the rebel ranks fighting Assad's regime, which is composed mostly of Alawites, an offshoot of Shiite Islam. The fighting has threatened the stability of Syria's neighbors — including Iraq, where a recent surge in car bombings have targeted Shiite areas.

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A man peers through a shattered window at the scene of a bombing in the Beir el-Abed, a southern sub …

Health Minister Ali Hassan Khalil said 53 people were wounded in Tuesday's blast, which shattered windows and damaged several buildings in the busy area. A security official said the bomb was placed in a car and weighed 35 kilograms (70 pounds).

At least one Syria-based Islamist brigade claimed responsibility for the attack on its Facebook page, but its authenticity could not be verified. The Syrian National Coalition, the main Western-backed Syrian opposition group, denounced "in the strongest terms the terrorist explosion."

"Targeting civilians is a criminal act that goes against the aims of the (Syrian) revolution and its principles," it said in a statement.

Hezbollah lawmaker Ali Ammar blamed "Israel and its tools in the region" for the attack. Hezbollah, like the Syrian regime, refers to those fighting to topple Assad as agents of Israel and the U.S.

The European Union condemned the Beirut bombing, calling it an "appalling act of violence (that) underlines the need for all Lebanese to maintain their national unity."

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A woman walks past a car destroyed in a bombing in the Beir el-Abed, a southern suburb of Beirut, Le …

Television footage from the scene revived memories of the 1975-90 Lebanese civil war when car bombs set by sectarian groups were common. There have been numerous car bombs targeting politicians and journalists since then, but random car bombings have been rare.

In May, two rockets struck the Hezbollah stronghold, wounding four people hours after Nasrallah vowed in a speech to help propel Assad to victory. In June, a rocket slammed into the same area, causing no casualties.

"A further destabilization of Lebanon's security is now very likely," said Charles Lister, an analyst at IHS Jane's Terrorism and Insurgency Center.

"Another line has been crossed," he said, "but the result will likely be a further hardening of the stances held by Hezbollah and its increasingly confident Sunni militant adversaries."

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Map locates suburb in Beirut hit by explosion; 1c x 2 inches; 46.5 mm x 50 mm;

Associated Press writer Barbara Surk contributed to this report.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — The turmoil in neighboring Egypt has rippled into the Gaza Strip, stranding thousands of people on both sides of the border and causing a fuel shortage as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins.

The looming crisis is threatening to divide families and cause new hardship in Gaza when extended families gather for large meals every evening to break the daily Ramadan fast.

Some relief is at hand. Egyptian officials say they will reopen the crossing for six hours on Wednesday, but they make no promises about letting up on smuggling tunnels, a key for funneling many goods into Gaza, where Israel limits the type of imports through its crossings for punitive and security reasons.

"Gaza is a trap. Once you get in, you don't know when you can get out," said Nawal Fahmi, a 42-year-old Gaza native who is trying to return to her home in Saudi Arabia for Ramadan. "You are a hostage to politics."

Fahmi, teacher who was in Gaza to visit relatives ahead of the holiday, is among thousands caught there by the closure of the Rafah border crossing. Thousands more are in Egypt waiting to return to Gaza.

With the border closed, Egyptian airport officials in Cairo were detaining dozens of Gaza-bound Palestinians and forcing them to fly back to their points of departure. Normally they would cross Egypt's Sinai Peninsula overland and enter Gaza through the Rafah crossing.

Egypt limited operations at the Rafah crossing, the main transit point for people in and out of Gaza, in the wake of the June 30 ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi and closed it altogether on Friday.

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Egyptian army soldiers stand guard on the border with Egypt in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Friday, J …

Maj. Gen. Sami Mitwalli, who is in charge of the border on the Egyptian side, confirmed plans to open the crossing.

Maher Abu Sabha, a Palestinian border official, said 12,000 people were waiting to travel, including college students, people who work abroad, or people waiting for medical service not available in Gaza.

He said thousands were also waiting to come home, including 800 Muslim pilgrims stranded in Saudi Arabia who were not being allowed to board Egypt-bound flights.

The Egyptian military has also closed off much of the normally bustling system of smuggling tunnels that run under the 15-kilometer (9-mile) border. Egypt is concerned about movement of militants back and forth between Gaza and Sinai through the illicit tunnels as it struggles to control jihadi elements in the desert peninsula.

Israel limits the entry of cement, glass and other construction materials into Gaza, saying they could be diverted for Hamas military use, and fuel shipped in from Israel is more than twice the price of subsidized Egyptian fuel. Israel imposed a blockade when Hamas took power in Gaza in 2007 but has eased it over the years. Hamas is a bitter enemy of Israel.

The sudden shortage of Egyptian fuel has led to long lines at Gaza gasoline stations in recent days. Traffic is uncharacteristically light on Gaza's chronically overcrowded roads. Power outages, already common in Gaza, have worsened.

"We are approaching the holy month of Ramadan. If this crisis continues, it means hardship for everyone in Gaza," said Ibrahim Saleh, a 33-year-old taxi driver. "Without fuel, life in Gaza will be paralyzed."

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Palestinian Hamas security guard stands near an Egyptian watch tower on the border with Egypt in Raf …

Egypt itself is suffering from a fuel shortage, evidence of its economic crisis, at least partly explaining the reduction of shipments to Gaza.

Guy Inbar, an Israeli defense official, said Israel was prepared to increase the deliveries of fuel or other supplies through special cargo crossings. He said Hamas, which does not recognize Israel, had not made any such requests. "All Palestinians need to do is to ask for them," he said.

The Gaza electric company said it would ration fuel to ensure that all areas receive 12 hours of power a day during Ramadan.

Dr. Ashraf al-Qedra, spokesman for Hamas' Health Ministry, said many key services were already being scaled back.

"We are working to manage the crisis. We reduced some of our services and rescheduled non-urgent surgeries," he said. "We have stopped using 40 percent of our cars and use them only for emergencies."

Ihab Ghussein, spokesman for the Hamas government, warned that other sectors, such as wastewater treatment and public transportation, were also threatened. Egypt's crackdown on the tunnels, begun last month, has already ground the construction sector to a standstill.

Ghussein said the government has been in touch with Egypt to alleviate both the fuel shortage and the travel restrictions.

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Associated Press writers Aya Batrawy in Cairo and Ian Deitch in Jerusalem contributed reporting.