During Israel's military offensive last winter, reporters like me were stuck outside trying to get in.

Today I am stuck inside Gaza trying to get out.

Israel has closed the border again.

At first, the reasons weren't exactly clear.

This morning, the Israeli military killed two Palestinians approaching a section of the Gaza border.

The IDF said the two men were militants carrying weapons and that there was a short firefight before the Palestinians were killed.

Yesterday, before the attack, Israel unexpectedly stopped letting people in-and-out of Gaza at noon.

Today, in the wake of the border confrontation, the IDF said it was keeping the border closed until at least Sunday. 

Israel's Gaza borders have been comparatively quiet in the last few weeks, but not totally quiet.

Earlier this week, Palestinian militants fired a rocket at Sderot, marking the first time in two months that Gaza fighters targeted the southern Israeli town with one of the crude Qassams.

That prompted two days of Israeli air strikes, including Wednesday afternoon attacks we could hear while doing interviews near the Egyptian border as roaring Israeli planes were hitting smuggling tunnels.

Although today's attack hit a border area far from the Erez passenger crossing, Israel has kept the terminal closed all day.

Finding out why -- and trying to figure out who could get the border re-opened -- produced some runaround. The IDF said it was the Defense Ministry. The Defense Ministry said it was the IDF. Officials first said it was because of the morning attack. Then they said it was because of a "security assessment."

Though seemingly sympathetic, the Israeli military officials I spoke with were apparently not swayed by my appeals to get out so I could see Macy Gray tonight in Tel Aviv.

(The inability to see the show is particularly tragic since funky musicians like Macy Gray rarely come here to perform...)

My Gaza colleagues are also sympathetic, though it's hard for me to complain about being stuck for a few days to people who have been stuck here for years.

Late in the afternoon, the Defense Ministry called and said that, if I hurried to the border, they would open it up and let me (and anyone else who could get there in time) out.

A few minutes later, Palestinian militants attacked an Israeli border patrol, which didn't do much damage to the Israeli soldiers, but destroyed my last hopes of getting out of Gaza...

Well, now's a good time to adjust my outlook and think of this is an imposed summer weekend holiday on the Mediterranean coast, minus the booze, night clubs and bikini-filled beaches.

Lord knows plenty of people are paying lots of money along other parts of this coastline for a weekend on the warming Mediterranean...