MIDDLE EAST: Six weeks after it completed its evacuation of troops and Jewish settlers from Gaza, Israel is being accused of deliberately hampering Palestinian efforts to open the Strip's borders and encourage economic recovery.
The Palestinian Authority (PA) claims Israel's increased restrictions on the flow of goods and people are worsening poverty in the impoverished coastal zone.
The criticisms echo recent comments by international envoy James Wolfensohn, who said last month in a letter to UN secretary general Kofi Annan that Israel was loath to relinquish control over the Gaza Strip and "almost acting as though there had been no withdrawal".
Mr Wolfensohn has said quick progress on improving Palestinian movement and access to the outside world is needed if the economic revival essential for peace is to happen.
Significant progress was made yesterday when Israel's security cabinet agreed to allow EU personnel to work alongside Palestinians at Gaza's southern Rafah border crossing with Egypt.
Israel closed the Rafah crossing after finalising its withdrawal from the strip last September. While yesterday's decision could pave the way for Rafah to reopen to two-way travel for Palestinians within months, it is unlikely to pacify the PA's deep frustration over the economic impact of the current closures, which, it says, is creating economic and political instability which could in turn lead to increased violence.
Mr Ghassan Khatib, a Palestinian minister involved in negotiations over Gaza, complained yesterday that the two crossings for people, Rafah and Erez, have been closed "with minor exceptions" since Israel's pull-out.
Before the withdrawal an average of 50 produce containers were shipped out of Gaza daily through its Karni crossing into Israel, but this has now been cut to an average of less than 20.
Mr Khatib also said Palestinians would not agree to Israel's demand to monitor people at the Rafah terminal via live video surveillance. "This would be like them continuing their direct control but this time with our consent, through us," he said.
Israel was trying to weaken the PA in order to dismiss it as a viable peace partner, he said. This gave the Israeli government an excuse to avoid negotiations which would expose it to its obligations under the internationally endorsed road map, including ceasing the expansion of illegal Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
"For that reason this Israeli government is not interested in reaching a situation where the PA is successful and fulfilling its obligations and consequently recognised as party to negotiations," Mr Khatib added.
Two Palestinian militants, including a leading Hamas member, were killed yesterday in an Israeli missile strike in the Jabalya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip.