Egypt is proposing a five-way plan to reopen the Rafah terminal on its borders with Gaza, sources in Cairo have stated.
The plan will give the Hamas movement, which, since last June, is the de facto controller of Gaza, a key role at the terminal, the only Gaza gateway to the outside world.
Based on the 2005 agreement, the terminal will reopen under the supervision of Palestinian Authority security forces and under observation by Egypt, the United States, the European Union and Israel.
To overcome Israeli security concerns regarding weapons smuggling to Gaza, the new plan presents new inspection mechanisms for the EU observers who return to the terminal.
According to the sources, the Egyptian chief of intelligence ‘Umar Suleiman is due in Israel in the next few weeks to discuss the plan with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak.
Hamas has refused to comment on the plan. The group’s spokesman, Ayman Taha, said that the Hamas position regarding the terminal was clear to Egypt.
“As long as we have not received the plan, we cannot comment on it. But Hamas also welcomes all efforts to open the terminal and lift the siege on Gaza,” he said.
The Hamas conditions and demands regarding the opening of the terminal were discussed in detail during a visit by a Hamas delegation to the Egyptian city Ariesh last week, Taha added.
Hamas opposes the 2005 agreement that was signed between the P.A. and Israel, which ensured Israel’s full control over the terminal through the European observers.
The P.A., meanwhile, has proposed taking responsibility for the Palestinian side of all the crossings, saying it is still bound by the international agreements it had signed with Israel, including the Rafah deal.
In 2005 the Rafah crossing, between Gaza and Egypt, was handed over by Israeli to be operated by P.A. Chairman Mahmoud ‘Abbas’ security forces, with EU observers monitoring the operation.
In June 2007, following the infighting between Hamas and Fatah which resulted in Hamas taking power from Fatah in the Gaza Strip, the European observers left the terminal after Israel decided to close the Egyptian-Palestinian terminal.