Gaza border deal crucial for Palestinians and Abbas

By Ofira Koopmans Nov 15, 2005, 19:20 GMT

Jerusalem - Israel and the Palestinians reached a deal on Gaza's main border crossing to the outside world Tuesday, more than two months after Israel withdrew from and ended 38 years of occupation of the narrow coastal strip.

The breakthrough is of crucial importance especially for the Palestinians, who have complained that without the smooth movement of goods and people in and out of Gaza they will not be able to rebuild its crippled economy.

It is also a boost for President Mahmoud Abbas ahead of Palestinian parliamentary elections on January 25. The moderate leader of the ruling Fatah party faces a tough challenge from the radical Islamic Hamas faction, which is taking part for the first time.

Before the deal was struck, a senior European diplomat told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that opening up the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt 'would be psychologically the biggest achievement for Abbas'.

In the longer term, the deal also sets a precedent for future border and security arrangements between Israel and an independent Palestinian state, and a possible third-party role in such arrangements.

'The agreement can serve as a foundation for continued cooperation in the region,' Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz said after ironing out the details in a meeting with United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in a Jerusalem hotel.

Israel has always objected to foreign observers in the Palestinian territories, except for an international presence with very limited monitoring powers in the divided southern West Bank town of Hebron.

The main task of the observer presence in Hebron, which consists of personnel from Scandinavia, Switzerland, Italy and Turkey, is to report misconduct by either side. It is not allowed to intervene directly and has no military or police functions.

According to a copy of the agreement obtained by dpa, the European Union will not only monitor security checks carried out by Palestinian Authority (PA) security personnel at the Rafah terminal.

It will also have the authority to ensure the PA complies by the rules and, in case of non-compliance, 'to order the re-examination and reassessment of any passenger, luggage, vehicle or goods'.

Israel, for its part, can only complain to the PA and the third party about 'persons of concern' seeking to enter Gaza.

The third party model at Rafah will provide the basis for security arrangements at a future seaport in Gaza, construction of which is to begin as part of the deal.

The deal means that for the first time, there will be no direct Israeli intervention in the export of goods from the Gaza Strip, nor in the entry and exit of Palestinian civilians through Rafah.

Only incoming goods will have to go through the Kerem Shalom crossing just outside the Strip on Israel's border with Egypt.

The E.U. will lead a liaison office in Kerem Shalom which will receive real-time video and data feed of the security checks in Rafah.

The breakthrough was made possible after Rice cancelled a trip to South Korea to oversee feverish marathon talks, using her clout as the highest-ranking U.S. diplomat and the weight of her office to personally shove the sides to accept the compromise.

Desperate mediation efforts by international envoy James Wolfensohn had thus far been fruitless. The endless bickering between the sides led Wolfensohn to send an irritated letter to United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, in which he accused Israel of acting 'as though there had been no withdrawal'.

The envoy even threatened to leave unless a breakthrough was made and local media had reported that he was 'furious' about Israel and the Palestinians' reluctance or inability to bridge the gaps.

Although a breakthrough, the deal does not guarantee the revival of the peace process, which remains frozen amid Israeli demands that Palestinians crack down on militants.

Perhaps with this in mind, Palestinians reacted cautiously to the agreement. It was, Deputy Premier Nabil Shaath said, 'a good beginning'.