AMID Palestinian ‘deep frustration’ with Israel’s ‘refusal to coordinate in good faith’, an EU delegation arrived on Saturday in Rafah to station security cameras at the Rafah Crossing on the borders between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, the Palestine Media Centre reported yesterday.
The EU delegation arrived ahead of visits to the region by the European Union foreign policy chief Xavier Solana, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and James Wolfensohn envoy for the Quartet (the US, EU, Russia and the UN).
The Gaza Strip has turned into a ‘huge prison’, Palestinian National Authority (PNA) legal adviser Diana Butto said on Friday.
She added: ‘And that was exactly the Palestinian fear when the (Israeli unilateral) Disengagement plan was announced. And truly, there is no airport, no seaport, and no land crossings to anywhere.
‘It really has been turned into a very large prison.’
Palestinian Minister of Planning, Ghassan Khatib, who is in charge of coordinating outstanding issues post-‘Disengagement’ with Israel, said last week: ‘Based on this illegal activity and Israel’s refusal to even talk about returning to negotiations, I’m convinced that Israeli coordination is little more than smoke and mirrors.’
On October 30, another high-level meeting in a series between Palestinians and Israelis over the Rafah crossing point had concluded without an agreement.
In addition to Khatib, the meeting was attended by Chief Palestinian Negotiator Saeb Erekat and Head of the Crossing Points Authority Nazmi Muhana on the Palestinian side. Eitan Dangot, Ammos Gilaad, Baruch Speigal and Einat Wolfe represented Israel. The meeting was chaired by Quartet Special Envoy Wolfensohn.
Khatib condemned the situation as ‘ridiculous’.
He said: ‘We have done everything possible to coordinate with Israel. But as James Wolfensohn noted, coordination has brought much less than expected and it is almost as if the “Disengagement” had never occurred.’
• A 12-year-old Palestinian boy, shot by Israeli troops during a raid on Jenin in the West Bank last Thursday, died of his wounds on Saturday.
Israeli forces claimed Ahmad Ismail Khatib was playing with a toy gun and they said they mistook the boy for an armed fighter during an exchange of fire.
