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Photo: Michael Kremer
Erekat
Photo: AFP

Israel to consider reopening Gaza crossings if violence stops

Defense Minister Barak says Jerusalem willing to lift blockade if Hamas ceases its attacks, but top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said he doubts Barak's sincerity

Defense Minister Ehud Barak said he would consider reopening Gaza's border crossings if violence from the territory ceases, but defense officials warned Tuesday that such a move is a long way off.

 

The officials said Barak's statement was aimed at bolstering the moderate Palestinian government of President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank. Barak has previously opposed opening Gaza's borders since Hamas, which often fires rockets into southern Israel, violently seized control of the area last June.

 

The officials said US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice pressed Barak during a visit this week to consider easing Israel's blockade of Gaza, which has caused widespread economic hardship in the territory of 1.4 million Palestinians. Abbas, who wants to reassert his authority in Gaza, has offered to have his forces man Gaza's border crossings to help ease the humanitarian situation while preventing direct contact between Israel and Hamas.

 

Israel closed Gaza's crossings after the Hamas overran Gaza. It has only let in limited humanitarian supplies since.

 

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Abbas hope to work out a peace deal by the end of the year. But the Gaza situation threatens those efforts. The Israeli army regularly clashes with Hamas gunmen, and Israel has warned it won't carry out an agreement with Abbas if rockets continue to fall in southern Israel.

 

A Palestinian mortar attack wounded two civilians in a southern Israeli farming community on Tuesday.

Despite the incident, there has been a sharp drop in Gaza violence in recent weeks as Egyptian mediators try to work out a truce between Israel and Hamas.

 

Hamas insists that, as part of any cease-fire, Israel stop its military activity in Gaza.

 

''The solution is a synchronized and mutual calm that includes an end to Israeli attacks and the lifting of the siege, in exchange for halting the rockets. This is a solution that can please all sides,'' said Taher Nunu, a spokesman for Gaza's Hamas government.

 

In his announcement, Barak set several conditions that must be met before restrictions at the borders would be relieved.

 

''When conditions have matured in the future for an end to the rockets, the terror and the reduction of the weapons' smuggling, we will be willing to consider easements in the Gaza crossings through cooperation with representatives of (Palestinian Prime Minister Salaam) Fayyad's government,'' Barak said.

 

The defense officials said Israel would not be fully opening the crossings in the near future since the violence has persisted.

 

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Tuesday that he wasn't sure Barak's statement was serious. ''Announcements are one thing and action and deeds are another thing,'' Erekat said.

 


פרסום ראשון: 04.01.08, 18:19
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