'Palestinians want extra 2 kilometers'
Israeli security official says Palestinian Authority demanded land near Gaza beyond 1967 lines after Israeli pullout , although Palestinian security official denied the claim
He told the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that Mohammed Dahlan, a top negotiator and senior Palestinian security official, told him the Palestinian Authority is demanding Israel retreat to its 1949 armistice lines and not Gaza borders determined during the1967 Six-Day War, as dictated in Israel’s pullout plan.
Such a move would grant the Palestinians another two kilometers of land.
Dahlan denied the claim, telling Ynetnews: "The Palestinians are not interested in one inch inside the (1967) line, but we are interested in what was agreed upon and in the returning of all territories conquered in 1967. We have no demands beyond that."
“The Palestinian demand regarding the Gaza border and the location of the Erez checkpoint is curious and goes against the Oslo accords,” said committee member Ilan Shelgi of the centrist Shinui party.
Diplomatic sources in Jerusalem have said that “border are changes are inconceivable.”
The sources described the demands as “remarkably insolant. They will not receive areas of sovereign Israel.”
Israeli and Palestinian officials have been meeting in recent months to try and coordinate Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s pullout plan, which calls for the removal of all 21 settlements in Gaza and four of 120 in the West Bank, as requested by the United States.
“There are still essential issues that Israel has not agreed upon regarding the disengagement, which is the future of the seaport, tax regulations and military presence in Gaza, which will need to be redrafted into law to regulate transport to and from Gaza,” Eiland said.
House demolitions deal
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said during meetings with Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas last month that a deal was made that Israel would demolish the settler homes and the Palestinians would clear the rubble, while foreign donors would fund new housing for the Palestinians.
“As of now there is a decision to destroy the houses and have the Palestinians clear (the rubble) but there are still many unsolved questions,” Eiland said, adding that the issue would need to be resolved before the pullout in August.
Israel has also agreed to evacuate the Philadelphi Line, a buffer zone on the Egypt-Gaza border, and hand over control to Egyptian security forces.
Ran Cohen, another member of the committee, said such a plan was dangerous, but less hazardous than maintaining control over the area because then Israel would “remain as occupiers in Gaza” and IDF troops would be in a “desperate situation.”
Diana Bahur-Nir contributed to this report
