James Wolfensohn, special envoy of the Quartet of international mediators, said on Tuesday that the Israeli-Palestinian talks on reopening Rafah crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip achieved progress.

"We hope to reach an agreement to allow opening of the Rafah crossing within the coming days,"Wolfensohn told a press conference after a meeting with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Wolfensohn said what he cares about now is to discuss way of improving the Palestinian economy in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

Meanwhile, the Quartet comprising the UN, the US, the EU and Russia urged Israel on Tuesday to take necessary measures to facilitate the Palestinians' daily life including reopening Rafah crossing.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said that Monday's meeting between Israel and the Palestinians also attended by Wolfensohn and EU representatives reached an agreement that the Palestinians with Palestinian ID cards can pass through Rafah crossing back and forth and goods will enter the Gaza Strip via Kerem Shalom crossing on the border between Israel, Egypt and Gaza.

Israel's security cabinet last Tuesday approved an agreement with Cairo that the crossing would be operated by Egypt and the Palestinians under a European supervision.

However, disputes are still unsettled on the authority of the inspectors, as Palestinians consider them advisers while Israel wants them to have veto power over security enforcement.

The Palestinians also objected to the Israeli demand for installing surveillance cameras at Rafah crossing.

Rafah crossing, Gaza's only land access to the outside world that doesn't go through Israel, was closed in the absence of a deal several days before Israel completed withdrawal of settlers and troops from the Strip on Sept.12.

Source: Xinhua