Israel moves on Gaza crossing

JERUSALEM - Israel, under pressure from the United States, agreed to marginally loosen restrictions at Gaza's border crossing with Egypt today, but did not make any longer-term commitment to keep the frontier open.

In a statement after US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice left Jerusalem to continue a regional tour, the State Department said Israel agreed to open Rafah crossing at "regular intervals" during the current Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The statement did not specify what those intervals would be or how long they would last.

"We are encouraged by this decision, the first step towards restoration of normal operations at the crossing," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters travelling with Rice.

Rafah has been closed for much of this year, and has been open for only 12 days since an Israeli soldier was captured by Gaza militants in a cross-border raid on June 25th.

Rice, who personally brokered a deal with Israel in November last year to try to keep Gaza's border crossings open, had pressed Israeli leaders on the issue during extensive talks in an effort to secure at least some success in her two-day visit.

As well as limited moves on Rafah, Rice also did not appear to make much progress in attempts to bolster Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who is locked in a debilitating power struggle with Hamas, the Islamist group running the government.

It remains unclear what Abbas plans to do with the Hamas-led administration, which he has threatened to dissolve in the face of a Western aid embargo and unsuccessful attempts to form a unity government Palestinians hope could ease the sanctions.

US and European Union security officials had warned Israel that European monitors at Rafah, Gaza's only border with the outside world that doesn't cross through the Jewish state, might leave unless Israel agreed to keep the crossing open.

While Israel's limited move on Rafah may mark some progress, there was no equivalent gesture when it came to Karni, the main commercial crossing between Israel and Gaza, through which essential goods such as flour and medicines have to pass.

Like Rafah, Karni has been closed for much of this year, and open for only a handful of days since the soldier was captured, contributing to food shortages among Gaza's 1.4 million people and provoking a humanitarian crisis, the UN says.

The United States has been pushing a plan, drawn up by US Lieutenant-General Keith Dayton, an Israeli-Palestinian security co-ordinator, that would see up to 90 foreign monitors deployed at Karni and US$19 million ($28.6 millions) spent to keep it open more regularly.

McCormack said Israel had given a cautiously positive response to that plan.

Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz told reporters after meeting Rice: "I intend to help in the implementation of the Dayton plan," but did not elaborate.

Peretz said he planned to "step up the pace with respect to everything related to the crossings" but indicated that much depended on the release of the captured Israeli soldier.

Israel says it closes Karni when it has intelligence on possible attacks or attempts to smuggle weapons through it, and says it is allowing goods and trucks to enter Gaza through other, smaller crossing points.

The closure of the crossings is a great source of frustration for Palestinians.

McCormack said Israel also "agreed to consider favourably" the use of tax revenues it collects on the Palestinians' behalf -- and has not been transferring to them since Hamas came to power in March, for agreed humanitarian projects.

- REUTERS