Israeli control of Egypt-Gaza border?
Defense Minister holds meeting to discuss significance of Gaza withdrawal; recommends using Rafah crossing as exit point and Israeli supervised Kerem Shalom crossing as entrance for Palestinians and Egyptians into Gaza
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz met with IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz and top defense establishment officials Wednesday, to discuss the significance of withdrawing from the Philadelphi Route along the Israel-Egypt border in the Gaza Strip.
It was agreed upon during the meeting that Israel would maintain the right to continue supervision on entry points from Egypt into Gaza.
In addition, it was decided that a special security team comprised of Egyptian soldiers and PA forces would accompany Israel during its withdrawal from the Philadelphi Route.
The Egyptian government is set to deploy 750 policemen along the 14 kilometer border between Israel and Egypt, while the Palestinians will operate to prevent weapons' smuggling, something which they have proven successful at over the past several months.
The defense establishment maintains that an agreement with the Palestinians following an IDF pullout from the area must include a buffer zone adjacent to the border.
'Israel has the right to protect its security interests'
The defense establishment is set to recommend the Rafah crossing become a one-way passage for people and merchandise to exit the Gaza Strip to Egypt, while the Israeli supervised Kerem Shalom crossing would become an entry point, allowing passage between Israel, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority.
Israel would maintain its right of supervision over the Kerem Shalom crossing to allow a customs check to prevent the country from being exposed to all kinds of merchandise coming from all over without proper inspection.
The significance of this decision is that Israel would continue to supervise and collect customs charges from the Palestinians.
"Israel was every right to take caution in order to protect its security interest," Mofaz said at the meeting Thursday.
