Safe passage might open Monday

Palestinian and Israeli negotiators continued their contacts Sunday night trying to solve the remaining obstacles to opening the safe passage between the West Bank and Gaza Strip. If both sides reach an agreement by Monday morning, the safe passage should open instantly, Palestinian sources said.

The Palestinian government on Thursday decided not to open the safe passage because of a number of outstanding issues that needed to be solved with the Israeli side. Jamil Tarifi, Palestinian government minister of civil affairs, said earlier that the problem with Israel concerned the location of the District Coordinating Office that will issue the safe passage cards. He explained that Israel wants to erect it outside Gaza and outside the Erez crossing point while the Palestinians want it inside Gaza.

Sufyan Abu Zaydeh, deputy minister of civil affairs, said the decision not to operate the safe passage was is a Palestinian decision because, "We reject operating it before matters are clear." He added that the Palestinian government does not want Palestinians to face Israeli soldiers without the presence of a Palestinian officer. On the safe passage cards, Abu Zaydeh said there were 1,000 cards ready that can be distributed once the safe passage is open. He said that some 2,000 Palestinians have applied for permits to use the safe passage.

Israel, however, said the number was much less than that. Shlomo Dror, spokesman of the office of the Israeli coordinator of activities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, said that only 534 permits from the Gaza Strip and one from the West Bank were handed over to the office and that all were approved except for 81 applications that belong to Palestinians with security records.