What is considered 3 psukim for "unusual" parsha breaks?

Question

Talmud Megillah 22א says that each aliyah must have a minimum of 3 psukim left to the end of the parsha as well as start with at least 3 psukim before it in the parsha (paragraph.)

What is considered the end of the parsha in these situations?

• The end of sidrah Vayigash in some scrolls has a break of 1 letter between it and the start of Vayechi. Is that one letter break considered the end of a parsha?
• A parsha break in the middle of a pasuk such as in Devarim 2:8. Of course, you can't start or end an aliyah in the middle of a pasuk. But, in terms of counting the minimimum, does the part of the pasuk before or after the parsha go into that count? Or do we need to ignore that pasuk completely because it's not a full pasuk?

Answer 1

The Magen Avraham (138:1) discusses this question:

ונ"ל דכשיש פ' באמצע הפסוק כגון בריש פנחס מותר לסיים אפי' בפסוק הסמוך לה דליכ' למימר שהשני יקרא עד הפ' שהדבר ידוע שאין מסיימים באמצע הפסוק אף על פי שיש שם פ'‏

And it seems to me that when there's a 'פ in middle of a possuk, for example in the beginning of Pinchas, one is allowed to finish close to it because it's known that one does not finish reading in middle of a possuk even though there is a 'פ.