Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat asserted on Monday that
a quartet meeting over Israeli closure of Palestinian outlets in
the Gaza Strip would be held later Monday in an effort to avoid
humanitarian crisis.
Erekat told the Voice of Palestine radio that the meeting to
beheld at Kerem Shalom crossing, east of Rafah town in southern
Gaza Strip, would be attended by Egyptian, Israeli, the US and
Palestinian officials.
Kerem Shalom crossing, which is located inside Israel and at the
corner of the border with Gaza and Egypt, might be opened
immediately following the Monday's meeting, said Erekat, stressing
the importance of US help in the Palestinian-Israeli negotiation as
Israel would allow only five to ten loaded-trucks into Gaza each
day.
"We know in advance the Israeli style of negotiations, therefore
we said we need the Americans with us," Erekat added.
Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz reported that Israeli and
Palestinian officials and international peace brokers reached a
temporary agreement on Sunday that humanitarian aid would enter the
Gaza Strip through the Kerem Shalom crossing on the Gaza-Israel
border.
According to the report, representatives of the United States,
the European Union and Egypt as well as Israeli and Palestinian
officials attended the meeting in Tel Aviv to discuss how to ease
severe shortage of food and other daily necessities in the Gaza
Strip.
The senior Palestinian official disclosed that another meeting
between Palestinian, US and Israeli officials would also be held on
Monday to discuss the reopening of Karni industrial crossing, Erez
and Sofa crossing.
Israel has shut the Karni commercial terminal, the main cargo
crossing and supply route between Israel and Gaza, out of security
concerns. The Jewish state said it had no immediate plan to reopen
it.
As for Rafah crossing on the Gaza-Egypt border which has been
closed since the European Union (EU) monitors withdrew from the
crossing on Tuesday out of security concerns, Erekat said "we don't
want to be surprised by the European monitors' departure from Rafah
crossing" as EU monitors did in Jericho.
The Israeli army raided Palestinian Jericho prison early last
Tuesday, demanding the surrender of Ahmed Saadat, leader of the
leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), and
five other militants.
The Palestinians have denounced that the prison, which under the
supervision of monitors from the two countries, were raided by
Israeli forces only 10 minutes after the monitors withdrew from the
prison at 9:20 AM (07:20 GMT).
However, Erekat assured EU monitors that the Palestinian side
would guarantee their safety. "We informed them that we are ready
to protect you and to carry out all your demands." "We want to
start exporting from Gaza Strip to Egypt, we want for the (Rafah)
crossing to be opened around the clock as the Europeans exist to
protect it from shutting it down," he added. He worried that the
Gaza Strip would returned to the stage of full closure if Israel
insisted to closed down Rafah crossing following the Europeans'
withdrawal.
Citing security concerns, Israel has closed the crossings for
most of the past two months.
Palestinians sources said serious food shortages in the Gaza
Strip have forced dozens of bakeries to close down their doors and
restaurants stopped offering meals as dozens of Palestinians stood
in long lines in front of few bakeries where there are some bread
left.
Palestinian Minister of Economy Mazen Sonokrot has recently
warned of a humanitarian disaster in the Strip because the wheat
and flour have run out for days.
(Xinhua News Agency March 21, 2006)
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