Rafah crossing will not open except under PA control

Date: 05 / 02 / 2008 Time: 11:13

Bethlehem – Ma'an –

The Rafah crossing will not be opened unless it is under the control of the Palestinian Authority, a reliable Egyptian source affirmed on Tuesday.

The London-based daily newspaper Al-Hayat quoted the Egyptian source as saying, "This issue is not negotiable."

He refused to refer to Hamas as an authority affirming that it is an organization not an authority.

"Egypt only recognizes the President Abbas-led Palestinian Authority, which is recognized at Arab and international levels," the Egyptian source added.

He denied that Egypt is arranging a new agreement related to the Rafah crossing. "We adhere to the international AMA agreement which the Palestinian authority signed in 2005 which will be applied again to the Rafah crossing performance," he added.

Israel and the US have been putting pressure on Egypt and the PA to abide by the Agreement on Movement and Access (AMA) drawn up by Israel and the Palestinian Authority in November 2005. Under the agreement, European monitors replaced Israel military forces at the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. Israel retained effective control to open and close the crossing, however, because it could prevent the European teams from reaching the crossing point. Hamas says the AMA is now no longer valid.

The source went on to say that the crossings issue is a Palestinian concern and Egypt has no direct relation to the authority over the crossings. The source said Egypt considers control of the crossings to be an internal Palestinian matter. It is the decision of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and Ramallah, he said.

The Egyptian source added that there are troubles concerning the management of the crossing and Egypt does not wish to take on the responsibility. Consequently, the crossing is not likely to be open every day.

However, he affirmed that Egypt will attempt to solve the problem of the thousands of Palestinian medical patients and students, who are requestin passage abroad and have been stranded in the Egyptian border town of Al-Arish.

The source revealed that during last week's Cairo talks, Hamas stated their readiness to agree on the crossings being run by employees affiliated to the Palestinian presidency on condition that they are residents of the Gaza Strip. However, they say they refuse to coordinate with the Israelis. Egypt will not accept such a condition.

Israeli forces are not physically present at the Rafah crossing, but they monitor its performance through cameras controlled from the Kerem Shalom crossing. They also check the passenger lists which they receive through the liaison office.

Zahar: We agreed with Egypt to arrange the borders until opening them official

[ 04/02/2008 - 10:27 AM ]

GAZA, (PIC)--

Dr. Mahmoud Al-Zahar, a senior Hamas leader, stated Sunday that the Hamas delegation agreed during the last visit to Cairo with the Egyptian side to control and discipline the borders until they reach another agreement on the opening of the Rafah crossing officially.

In an interview with the Aqsa satellite channel on Sunday evening, Dr. Zahar highlighted that Hamas will not accept that the Europeans participate in the management of the Rafah crossing, adding that Hamas and the caretaker government approve the presence of qualified administrative civil servants at the crossing.

The Hamas leader underlined that Hamas will not allow the Gaza people to starve or live in darkness, stressing the need to provide the Gaza Strip with fuel and electricity by Egypt because it is irrational to buy oil from Israel after it buys it from Egypt.

Regarding the statements by some officials in Ramallah on Hamas seeking to link the Gaza economy with Egypt, the Hamas leader said that the PA leadership does not want Gaza to be economically free from the Israeli occupation; it wants Gaza to be economically reliant on Israel.

Regarding the internal dialogue, the Hamas leader said that Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, issued orders to the Egyptian intelligence to create the atmosphere for dialogue between Fatah and Hamas, pointing to the flexibility showed by Hamas in finding creative solutions without compromising its primary objectives.

Solana: 'open Rafah crossing with EU supervision'

Date: 04 / 02 / 2008 Time: 10:37

Bethlehem –

Javier Solana, the European Union's High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, reaffirmed the EU's commitment to its monitoring role at the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip on Sunday.

Solana met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo on Sunday evening to discuss the issue of the crossing, which was breached by Palestinians in January, and only re-sealed on Sunday.

Solana held a joint press conference with Amr Mousa, the Secretary General of the Arab League. He said that if the European monitors are to resume supervision on the Rafah crossing, the Israeli-Palestinian Agreement on Movement and Access of 2005 should be re-activated.

He said, "As you know, since 2000 we have been paying special attention to the Rafah crossing, and we expressed readiness to resume monitoring the crossing as we used to according to the AMA agreement. We are now examining how to resume that agreement."

Hamas, the group that controls the Gaza Strip and forcibly opened the border, has called for the AMA to be rescinded, arguing that it gives to much power to Israel to control the a crossing between two Arab territories.

Under the agreement, the border could only be opened when European monitors were present, while Israel had effective authority to open and close the crossing.

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