Israel, Palestinians reach deal on Gaza crossings

An agreement was reached on Tuesday between Israel and the Palestinians on Gaza border crossings, Israel Radio said.

The deal was reached after visiting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice pushed hard on the two sides to hammer out an agreement on the crossings to inject impetus into the long-stalled Mideast peace process.

Under the agreement, a communications center will be set up with videos filming people crossing the Rafah terminal on the Egypt-Gaza border and Palestinian customs officials will be stationed at the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and Gaza, with Israel inspecting goods passing through, the radio said.

The videos will be monitored by Israeli officials, but the European Union observers will have the final say when disputes arise over passage for persons who Israel deems suspicious while the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) believes should be allowed to cross, the radio said.

US officials said a press conference was scheduled Tuesday morning and a statement on the Gaza border deal was expected to be announced, but they did not elaborate on the content of the statement to be issued.

Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz held talks with Rice in Jerusalem early Tuesday morning to finalize details on the agreement.

Determined to make progress in the deadlocked talks on the issue, Rice postponed her departure from the region late Monday, remaining in Jerusalem to hold further talks with officials from both sides.

Source: Xinhua