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Israel might re-open crossings
01/04/2008 19:12 - (SA)
Jerusalem - Israel's defence minister said he would consider re-opening Gaza's border crossings if violence from the territory ceases, but defence officials warned on Tuesday that such a move is a long way off.
The officials said Ehud 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 the Hamas militant group, 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.
Sharp drop in Gaza violence
In new violence on Tuesday, Israeli troops shot and killed two Hamas gunmen during a raid on the central Gaza Strip, Hamas said, while a Palestinian mortar attack wounded two civilians in a southern Israeli farming community, the army said.
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 synchronised 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 spokesperson for Gaza's Hamas government.
"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 co-operation with representatives of (Palestinian Prime Minister Salaam) Fayyad's government," said Barak.
The defence officials said Israel would not be fully opening the crossings in the near future since the violence has persisted.
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said he wasn't sure Barak's statement was serious. "Announcements are one thing and action and deeds are another thing," Erekat said.
While the sides have held numerous meetings, there has been little visible progress in the US-backed peace negotiations, and Gaza is only one of several complications.
The talks have been plagued by Israeli settlement construction on land Palestinians want for a future state and Palestinian violence.
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