VARIOUS: Israel vows to ease Gaza crossings amid international pressure.

Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz vowed on Thursday (October 5) to ease the closure on the Gaza Strip amid international pressure to ease restrictions on Palestinians leaving in the territory. Peretz promised at a news conference following his meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Jerusalem that Israel would ease the crossings which have been closed since an upsurge in violence in June. "I intend to step up the pace with respect to everything related to the crossings. I announced that I intend to help in the implementation of the Dayton plan to build the Palestinian crossing near the Israeli crossing at Karni. We will take action to ease things at all the crossings," Peretz told reporters. The $20 million U.S. plan for Karni calls for bolstering security at the crossing, deploying 90 foreign monitors there and expanding Abbas' presidential guard. Israel has shut Karni frequently this year because of what it says are threats from Palestinian militants. Israeli security officials have welcomed the Karni proposal but said it would remain on hold until the soldier captured by Palestinian militants was freed. Aid groups say the closures at Karni have worsened humanitarian conditions in densely populated Gaza, home to 1.4 million people. A strike by Palestinian government workers over unpaid wages has further slowed operations at Karni. Israel says it is allowing goods and trucks to pass into Gaza through other crossings. "Today Israel is facilitating the movement of over 7 hundred tons of basic food commodities through Suffa crossing behind us in order to keep a permanent level of humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian Authority," said Peter Lerner, an army commander at Suffa crossing between Israel and Gaza. Rice had told President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah on Wednesday (October 5) she would urge to "redouble ... efforts to improve the conditions of the Palestinian people" and press Israel to ease a closure of Gaza border crossings. She later met Israeli Prime Minister Olmert, whose office quoted him as telling Rice Israel planned to open Karni, its main commercial crossing with Gaza, in the near future. Israel has frequently closed the gateway, citing security concerns. Abbas' chief of staff said the president gave Rice a "working paper" to convey to Israel on ways to move towards a resumption of peacemaking and ease Israeli restrictions on Palestinian trade and travel. Rice is on a regional visit partly aimed at bolstering the moderate Abbas in his power struggle with Hamas. The Islamist group, dedicated to Israel's destruction, defeated Fatah in January elections and formed a government in March. Israel had frozen tax revenues after Hamas came to power fearing money would reach Hamas, a group sworn to Israel's destruction which Israel, the U.S. and western countries brand as a "terrorist" organisation. Peretz said Israel would closely examine each request for funnelling aid to the Palestinian Authority in order to prevent any money from reaching the Hamas. Peretz also said the release of frozen tax revenues depended highly on the release of Corporal Gilad Shalit, who was kidnapped by Palestinian gunmen in a cross border raid in June, triggering a deadly offensive on Gaza. During her regional trip, Rice also hopes to win Arab support for the embattled governments in Iraq and Lebanon, where 34 days of fighting between Israel and Hizbollah guerrillas ended in a U.N.-sponsored ceasefire on August As part of the international efforts to secure calm in the region, E.U. Special Representative to the Middle East Marc Otte also arrived to Ramallah and met with Abbas. "It is our first goal is to reopen Rafah according to agreements that have been concluded between the European Union, the Palestinian government and Israel. We feel that it is essential. It is essential for the good of the people and also for the sake of respecting international agreements," he told reporters after the meeting. Also on Thursday, hundreds of Palestinians attended a funeral procession in Khan Younis for a man killed by Israeli troops. Israeli soldiers shot dead the militant early on Thursday near the border with Israel. An Israeli army spokesman in Tel Aviv said troops shot an armed Palestinian who had approached the Israeli-built border fence south of the Kissufim crossing point and tried to plant explosives. A Palestinian ambulance crew later retrieved the body. The Islamic Jihad militant group said the dead man was one of its members.

ITN Source | October 5, 2006

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