Egypt Agrees With Hamas on Gaza Pullout

CAIRO, 10 August 2004 — Egypt has reached an agreement with Palestinian militant group Hamas over “special arrangements to guarantee Palestinian safety” after an Israeli withdrawal of the Gaza Strip, the official Egyptian Al-Ahram newspaper said yesterday.

“Egypt is also expected to reach a similar agreement with Fatah and continues efforts to agree with the rest of the Palestinian factions,” said the front-page article.

Negotiations between Egypt and Palestinian factions were expected to end by the second half of September, after which there would be an agreement on “a national Palestinian work plan agreed by all factions,” the report said.

Such an agreement would aim at guaranteeing law and security in Gaza in the event of the implementation of Israeli Premier Ariel Sharon’s withdrawal plan, said Al-Ahram. Sharon’s plan, which is harshly opposed by Israeli hardliners, aims at unilaterally withdrawing from the Gaza Strip by the end of 2005.

Sharon has previously asked Egypt to help guarantee security in the Gaza Strip in the event of a withdrawal. Egypt initially said it would train Palestinian security but later linked their agreement to a stop of continued Israeli incursions into Palestinian territories.

Al-Ahram said Egypt’s mediation with Palestinian factions was conditional to “four basic points”. These were “a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip; the lifting of all blockades and opening the area to all transportation, by sea and air; an Israeli promise that it will not reoccupy the Gaza Strip; the reopening of passage between Gaza and the West Bank.”

Last week, reports of Palestinian factions meeting in Egypt were officially denied. However, Hamas’ leader Khaled Meshaal was in Cairo for talks with government officials during that time. Gaza has been the focus of the unrest as factions jockey for the upper hand in anticipation of a vacuum after Israel leaves. But the strife has only involved factions within Fatah, with Islamist rivals such as Hamas looking on for now.

Hamas leaders last week in Cairo discussed Egypt’s offer of a security role in Gaza in the event of an Israeli withdrawal. Al-Ahram also said Egypt had asked the Palestinian Authority to nominate 45 officers to send for training in Cairo as part of efforts to make the Palestinian security forces able to impose law and order in the Palestinian territories after any Israeli withdrawal.

Egypt has already offered to send up to 200 security advisers to Gaza to train the Palestinian police force. Al-Ahram also said it had learnt that an agreement in principle had been reached between Israel and Egypt by which Egyptian border guards instead of police would patrol their country’s border with Gaza.

“An Egyptian military delegation is currently in Israel to negotiate on security problems on the border with Gaza, including the Salahadin Corridor,” which the Israelis call the Philadelphi Corridor, Al-Ahram said.

The resumption of security-coordination talks between Palestinian and Israeli officials scheduled for Sunday night have been postponed until today. The announcement of the postponement came from Palestinian minister Saeb Erekat no Sunday night. No reason for the postponement was given.

Israel and Palestinian officers were set to meet for their first parleys in months, to discuss a request to allow Palestinian policemen to carry arms again, a senior Palestinian official said.

“We hope that this meeting would be crowned with success and with full redeployment of Palestinian police forces in the West Bank in order to restore calm,” Hassan Abu Lebda, chef of staff to Premier Ahmed Qorei, told reporters in Ramallah before the postponement was announced.

Brig. Gadi Eizencott, commander of the Israeli Army’s West Bank division was slated to head the Israeli delegation, while the Palestinians were to be represented by minister Jamal Al-Tarifi and Gen. Haj Ismail, Palestinian West Bank security chief.

Some Palestinian areas, most notably the Gaza Strip, have experienced near anarchy in angry, sometimes violent, street protests to demand reforms and an end to corruption. Although Israeli defense officials decided in principle last week that Palestinian police could bear arms again, Sharon told his Cabinet on Sunday the request had not yet met with government approval.

“The request is being fully examined. After the investigation, it will come up for discussion and approval in the cabinet,” he said. Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said the Shin Bet internal security service would soon determine the criteria for allowing some policemen to bear arms.