Israeli - Palestinian agreement regarding safe passage
The Palestinians and Israelis signed an agreement concerning the secure passage, regarding which the Palestinians said it is a sign of good intentions.
Palestinian senior negotiator Saeb Erekat said, "Negotiations regarding the secure passage took place in very positive atmospheres."
The Israeli and Palestinian negotiators expected that Palestinian President Yasser Arafat will soon ratify the agreement, as the last point of dispute between the two sides was identifying the responsible front for issuing the magnetic cards which are considered the license for Palestinian citizens to cross through the passage.
Erekat said an agreement was reached regarding this point, as the Palestinian citizens must present requests to Palestinian officials to obtain cards, and the officials will present these requests to Israeli officials to make the security agreement, then the Palestinian citizens will get the cards from a joint Israeli - Palestinian bureau.
Background:The signing Tuesday of the protocol for operating the safe passage between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank has raised Palestinian hopes that other outstanding clauses in the Wye Agreement be implemented too. Palestinian officials were lately disappointed at the US Congress decision to defer authorization of the $ 1.2 billion grant, promised in return for implementing the Wye agreement. They expressed fear that the decision might be used by the Israeli government as a pretext not to carry out additional pullouts from the West Bank. Any Israeli withdrawal in the West Bank, Palestinian officials argue, is a real test of Israeli intentions and any delay, therefore, is seen as an attempt to avert earlier commitments Israel made in the Wye Agreement and reiterated in the Sharm Al Sheikh Agreement that was singed last September 4.
Israeli military officials too said they were not happy with the US decision noting that it formed "a severe blow to the Israeli army budget" according to a quotation attributed to a senior military official last week. The official told the Hebrew press that the US congress decision "might damage the army plans with regard to the implementation of the further troop withdrawals in the West Bank."
The safe passage, meanwhile, is due to start functioning in the middle of next week. Last minute procedural preparations were said to be the reason for the delay. The safe passage was due to open on 1 October but delayed until Sunday because of Jewish weekend. But disputes erupted between the PNA and Israel on who, how, and where would permits for the safe passage be issued. Israel wanted the Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank to apply directly to Israeli military officers in areas close to their domicile while the Palestinians insisted that no direct contact should take place between Israeli officers and Palestinians permit applicants. "We did not want the Israeli occupation to emerge again and the days of Palestinians queuing outside the officers of the military government are gone, with not return," said Colonel Rashid Abu Shbak, deputy commander of the Palestinian Preventive Security in the Gaza Strip.
PNA minister for civil affairs, Jamil Tarifi, said that Israel insisted on being the sole party that directly hands over the permits to the Palestinian public. "We insisted that this is totally out of question. There should not be any contact between the Palestinians who wish the use the free passage and the Israeli army," said Tarifi. He expressed concern and worries from Israel's surprising demand to have a free access to Palestinians using the safe passage and arrest wanted people from within the traveling groups. The only case in which Israel is entitled to question or stop Palestinians using the safe passage, said Tarifi, is when they commit a traffic or other kind of offenses while driving through or crossing the safe passage.
Israel and the Palestinians have spent the last four years negotiating details regarding the activation of the safe passage. Under the Oslo Accords, Israel undertook to allow the Palestinians free access between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank but it never honored that commitment. First, it took the Rabin government, and later that of Peres, lengthy discussions with the Palestinians on terms for opening the safe passage. Then came the Netanyahu government, which put everything on hold. The 1993 Oslo Declaration of Principals stipulated that the West Bank and Gaza Strip form one territorial unit. In order to implement this, several safe passage routes were agreed upon. They were marked precisely on the map appended to the accords and were supposed to open in May of 1994. Like many other clauses, the safe passage clause was broken by Israeli governments during Rabin, Peres, and Netanyahu's terms. After Barak was elected, a new phase has started and the modified Wye Accord was signed in Sharm Al Sheikh, opening the door for further implementation of the outstanding clauses of the original document singed in Wye Plantation in October last year. In two days, Israel should release 151 Palestinian security prisoners. The first part of the prisoners, 199 in number, were released last month.
Palestinian officials have always argued that without the safe passage, all the Oslo process would end up being meaningless. For the Palestinian leadership, the safe passage was seen as a crucial and very significant matter since it would embody the territorial continuity between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. For Israel, however, the safe passage is seen as a source for headache and security risk. "Every Palestinian vehicle driving through this safe passage is a potential security risk," one senior officer told the Hebrew papers last week. "The best way is to close the passages entirely, but the reality is that there are agreements and the safe passage is one of them," he said.
To minimize those security risks, Israel said it has adopted a number of measures, which once implemented successfully, the safe passage would not become a problem. "We have taken all precautions, some obvious and some not, to provide a security response to this passage," the officer said. In recent months, Israeli military and intelligence teams examined every point, established special procedures and decided on vigilant security checks. But on top of all, they said they wee counting on cooperation with the PNA in maintaining security.
The Palestinians have a supreme interest in maintaining ongoing operation of the safe passage. They also know that any mishap could lead to the passage's closing, a matter they sure do not want to happen. And that is why Israeli officials count on cooperation from their Palestinian counterparts.
In recent days, preparations on the border crossings at the Erez and Tarkumiya road blocks have gone into high gear. Israel prepared all the necessary forms, and put up the signs. Next to every intersection along the route, signs have been put up saying "Tarkumiya 2," and on the way from Tarkumiya west toward the PNA, signs have been put up saying "Gaza 2. The number "2" refers to the safe passage marked as "route number 2" in the original agreements. Route number 1, which will open in another month, will be between Gaza and Ramallah.
Palestinians wishing to traverse the safe passage, such as students, PNA officials, businessmen, merchants, clerics and ordinary people who want to visit family members, will have to acquire a safe passage card from Palestinian liaison offices after Israel's approval. The ticket, which they will buy for US $ 5, will be stamped with the hour of their departure. Private car owners will be obligated to reach their destination within an hour and a half. Buses can stay up to two hours. When the car reaches the entry point in Gaza or the West Bank, the driver's card will be checked, and the time stamped on it will serve as proof that the time of travel was reasonable.
Travel will be permitted only along the marked route, and stopping will be absolutely forbidden, except for emergencies. The passage will operate every day of the year, only in daylight hours.
Palestinians who are not allowed into Israel can also use the safe passage, but will have to travel in special transport on buses, which the Israel police will accompany two days a week between 7:00 and 14:00. These people will have to submit a request to use the safe passage five days before their planned trip.