Israel, Palestinians OK Gaza Border Deal

Israel and the Palestinians agreed Tuesday on a detailed arrangement for opening the borders of the Gaza Strip and allowing freer movement for Palestinians elsewhere, a significant step toward an eventual peace deal between historic enemies. It took all-night negotiations and a strong diplomatic shove from U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to get a deal whose basic elements had been in the works for weeks. "This agreement is intended to give Palestinian people the freedom to move, to trade, to live ordinary lives," she said.

Under the agreement, the Gaza-Egypt border would tentatively open Nov. 25 under the supervision of European monitors. Israel had demanded veto powers, but in the ended conceded on the issue, said Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat. Israel will receive live transmissions via closed circuit TV from the crossing there, and can raise objections concerning travelers, but the Palestinians have the final say.

Israel also said that by the end of the year it would allow at least 150 daily truckloads of cargo to be exported from Gaza through the Karni crossing into Israel, up from the 35 truckloads a day that crossed before Israel pulled out from Gaza. At least 400 daily truckloads will be allowed to pass by the end of 2006. Construction of a Gaza seaport which could take several years to complete is to begin soon, and Palestinians will be able to travel between the West Bank and Gaza in bus convoys, starting Dec. 15.

No agreement was reached on reopening Gaza's airport, which Israel largely destroyed during five years of fighting with the Palestinians, but Rice stressed the importance of reaching such a deal soon.

This Israeli site had a slightly different description of the deal.

Under the deal, as reported by Haaretz and AP, the Gaza- Egypt border crossing would "tentatively" open November 25. Palestinians would be allowed to travel between Gaza and the West Bank in convoys of IDF-escorted buses. Israel also promised to allow 150 truckloads of goods daily through the Karni crossing, instead of the 35 allowed now. Work on the Gaza seaport will also begin. According to Haaretz, no agreement was reached on opening Gaza airport.

The issue that had held up agreement was Israeli insistence on live video coverage of persons entering Gaza at the Rafah terminal. Israel would supposedly feed the information into sophisticated image recognition equipment. Interestingly, no reports explain how the outstanding problem was resolved.

Implementation of the agreement is crucial. As long as the borders are closed, there is little hope of building an economy in Gaza. Palestinian agricultural produce would rot in warehouses, and extremists would exploit the situation to their advantage.

I hate to rain on the party, but I will believe this one when I see it. Brokering agreements between Israelis and Palestinians is easy. As Mark Twain remarked, "Quitting smoking is easy. I've done it a thousand times." The Israelis have agreed many times to open the Gaza seaport, allow rebuilding of the airport and allow free passage to Gaza. The Palestinians have agreed many times to renounce violence, accept the roadmap and dismantle terror infrastructure. The problem, as Secretary Rice may find, is that the agreements are never implemented. After the press conference and the fanfare, there is a terror attack or two somewhere and Israel closes off Gaza, imposes the curfew and calls off the rebuilding of the port or the airport or whatever was agreed. Yesterday's headlines about free-passage and open ports are relegated to the foggy netherworld of forgotten news stories, good only for wrapping fish.

Israel, Palestinians OK Gaza Border Deal
With a Diplomatic Shove From Rice, Israelis and Palestinians Reach Deal on Gaza Border Crossings
By ANNE GEARAN
The Associated Press

JERUSALEM - Israel and the Palestinians agreed Tuesday on a detailed arrangement for opening the borders of the Gaza Strip and allowing freer movement for Palestinians elsewhere, a significant step toward an eventual peace deal between historic enemies.

It took all-night negotiations and a strong diplomatic shove from U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to get a deal whose basic elements had been in the works for weeks.

"I have to say as a football fan, sometimes the last yard is the hardest, and I think we experienced that today," Rice told a news conference.

Rice oversaw the marathon negotiations in a Jerusalem hotel, huddling alternately with Israeli and Palestinian negotiators in her suite. She had postponed a planned departure for Asia by a day to shepherd the deal to a conclusion.

On Tuesday morning, she met with Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz to finalize the details.

Rice praised the deal as a "big step forward" in Israeli-Palestinian relations, bruised by nearly five years of bloody fighting.

"This agreement is intended to give Palestinian people the freedom to move, to trade, to live ordinary lives," she said.

A deal to free up Palestinian movement while satisfying Israeli concerns about terrorism is a statement of progress beyond the technical issues at hand.

The agreement gives the Palestinians control over a border for the first time and provides a much-needed boost to the shattered Gaza economy. The deal also strengthens Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas ahead of Jan. 25 parliament elections and could help him fend off a strong challenge by the Islamic militant group Hamas.

Rice and international Mideast envoy James Wolfensohn badly wanted Israel and the Palestinian leadership to use Israel's unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip last summer as traction for tougher peace negotiations down the road.

Cooperation flagged in recent weeks, and Rice's two days of meetings in Jerusalem and the West Bank were meant to push the two sides to settle nitty-gritty disputes over Palestinian movement in and out of the territory they now control. "Underneath what may seem like very small details there are hard issues," Rice told reporters.

She said she only got about two hours of sleep.

Wolfensohn said the deal cleared the way for the international community to assist the Palestinians and help revive Gaza's economy. Donor countries have pledged hundreds of millions of dollars, but the money was held up by the lack of a border deal.

Under the agreement, the Gaza-Egypt border would tentatively open Nov. 25 under the supervision of European monitors. Israel had demanded veto powers, but in the ended conceded on the issue, said Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat. Israel will receive live transmissions via closed circuit TV from the crossing there, and can raise objections concerning travelers, but the Palestinians have the final say.

The European group will be headed by an Italian general, said Palestinian Information Minister Nabil Shaath.

Israel also said that by the end of the year it would allow at least 150 daily truckloads of cargo to be exported from Gaza through the Karni crossing into Israel, up from the 35 truckloads a day that crossed before Israel pulled out from Gaza. At least 400 daily truckloads will be allowed to pass by the end of 2006.

Construction of a Gaza seaport which could take several years to complete is to begin soon, and Palestinians will be able to travel between the West Bank and Gaza in bus convoys, starting Dec. 15.

No agreement was reached on reopening Gaza's airport, which Israel largely destroyed during five years of fighting with the Palestinians, but Rice stressed the importance of reaching such a deal soon.

"I am encouraging Israel to consider to allow construction to resume," she said, speaking slowly and deliberately.

Rice also emphasized that the United States was committed to security Israel's main concern in reaching a deal on the crossings and reiterated the long-standing U.S. demand that the Palestinians crack down on militant groups.

"Progress ... cannot continue unless there is also progress in fighting terror," she said.

The deal came amid political upheaval in Israel that could topple Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's shaky coalition government. Sharon's junior partner, the Labor Party, chose a new leader last week who said he would pull the party out of the coalition.

Sharon's Likud Party is still deeply divided following the Gaza pullout and its aftermath. Several lawmakers in the traditionally hard-line party remain furious over what they regard as a tactical mistake and an emotional blow. Without Labor's support, it will be difficult for Sharon to maintain a parliamentary majority.

The Knesset, Israel's parliament, is scheduled to vote Wednesday on a bill to dissolve parliament and force new elections. That could force elections within three months. The scheduled vote is November 2006.


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