Senior official: Israel would move Erez, Rafah crossing as part of Gaza pullout

The Erez crossing, the main entrance for Palestinian workers into Israel and site of a joint industrial park, will shift northward into Israel.

If the Egyptians agree, the Rafah crossing would be moved two kilometers (1.5 miles) south into Egyptian territory, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Moving the crossing points away from Gaza would end the cooperation between Israeli and Palestinian security forces mandated by interim peace accords in the 1990s.

Also, distancing the crossings from Gaza itself would reinforce Israel's contention that the pullout means the end of its occupation of Gaza, though Palestinians complain that Israel plans to maintain control of its borders and air space.

Israel announced last week that the Erez industrial park, where 4,000 Palestinians work for Israeli and Palestinian employers, will be closed as part of the pullout - another symbolic blow to coexistence.

Last week, the cabinet approved Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan. Sharon says the withdrawal from Gaza and four small West Bank settlements will reduce friction with the Palestinians and ward off international peace initiatives that would be unfavorable to Israel.

Palestinians are ambivalent about the plan, welcoming the evacuation of Gaza but rejecting the idea that Israel would retain any of the West Bank. The Palestinians claim both territories for a state.

Under a timetable put together by Israel's National Security Council, the voluntary evacuation of settlements would begin next month and end in August 2005. If settlers refused to leave, they would be forcibly removed in the first two weeks of September.

An official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said no West Bank settlements would be built for Gaza evacuees. Instead, he said, at least one new community would be set up in the southern Negev desert, not far from Gaza.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/438589.html