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NEWS
Israel Begins Gestures to Palestinians
by Yated Ne'eman Staff

Israel began implementing a number of the steps designed to ease conditions for Palestinians and "build confidence," including ending the closure of the territories and allowing more Palestinians to enter Israel with work permits. On Sunday Israel announced that 25,000 Palestinians will be allowed into Israel, 15,000 from Gaza and 10,000 from Judea and Samaria. Before the closure was imposed around Pesach, only 10,000 had been allowed entry. Prime minister Sharon also told the Cabinet on Sunday that Israel may have to dismantle some settlement outposts.

A review of Palestinian prisoner lists is to continue and Israel is to release 100 security prisoners by the Wednesday summit in Akaba between Israeli prime minister Sharon, Palestinian prime minister Abbas and US President George W. Bush.

Every prisoner would be required to sign a document saying that he (or she) will not engage in terror.

Israeli officials said it is also likely that the declaration to be issued at Wednesday's summit will include a timeline for Israel's withdrawal from an area in the Gaza Strip which will then fall under the full security control of PA.

Abbas said that Palestinian security forces would need "two to three weeks" before they could take up security responsibility in parts of the West Bank and Gaza. The first withdrawal will take place in Gaza, one official said, because the Palestinian security organizations there are largely intact.

A group of US monitors are expected to remain in the region after the summit. The size of this team, one Israeli official said, will be relatively small, but may increase if circumstances warrant it.

Abbas also said that he is close to reaching a cease-fire deal with Hamas, and that he hopes to have this in hand before Wednesday's summit.

Although Israel had for weeks said that it would not accept a cease-fire (or what is called in Arabic a hudna) Abbas is said to have told Sharon that the cease-fire would only be the first phase of a crackdown. Afterward, the Palestinians would collect illegal weapons and force the terrorist groups to integrate into the Palestinian political system.

Sharon advisor Zalman Shoval said Sharon understands that efforts to shut down the terrorist groups would have to start with a cease-fire. But Shoval said that they understood that the Palestinians were serious about fighting the terror.

Sharon told Abbas at the meeting that if the hudna is a tactical measure then it is not Israel's concern. But if the cease-fire is all Abbas does, then it will not work.

Among the other humanitarian gestures that Israel may take before the Wednesday summit include:

* Increasing the transfers of Israeli-held Palestinian tax funds to NIS 150 million per month.

* Increasing the number of travel permits for Palestinian business people to 8,000.

* Taking measures to ease operations of the humanitarian organizations in the territories.

US Assistant Secretary of State William Burns and Elliott Abrams, who heads the Middle East desk at the National Security Council, met separately Friday with Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom and Palestinian security chief Mohammed Dahlan and on Saturday with Abbas and Shaath.

The US officials told both sides that Bush intends to set up American-led groups to closely monitor the implementation of the road map.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Friday that an all- American team of experts was being assembled to monitor the implementation of the road map.

President George W. Bush said over the weekend, "I will do all that I can to help the parties reach agreement, and then see that the agreement is enforced."

In an interview with the Al-Arabiya news channel of the United Arab Emirates before he headed for Europe and then the Middle East, Bush said he would look for support from Arab leaders at the separate Arab summit in Egypt at Sharm e- Sheikh this week to cut off financial support to terror groups and to help ensure Israel's security.

I will remind everybody, Bush said, that in order for the process to go forward, there must be an absolute determined effort to fight off terror, to not allow the few to destroy the process.

Bush reaffirmed that he would keep trying to isolate Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who was not invited to either summit. The president said he had come to realize that it was impossible to achieve peace with Chairman Arafat. He's failed the Palestinian people in the past.

Israel has rejected an American suggestion that at the summit in Akaba, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon declare his aspiration for an "end to occupation."

The U.S. has also asked Sharon to declare at the parley with Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) and President George W. Bush the evacuation of illegal outposts. Israel objected, and it is not known at press time whether the outposts will be mentioned in the closing statement.

The U.S. administration has asked that the Akaba summit end with a joint Sharon-Abbas-Bush declaration, stating their commitment to the political process and to implementing the vision of two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security.

 

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