FACTBOX: Emerging Gaza ceasefire proposals

Tue Jan 6, 2009 1:14pm EST
 
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(Reuters) - A ceasefire plan for the Gaza Strip is taking shape that would include international commitments sought by Israel to prevent Hamas from smuggling in arms from Egypt.

Based on public statements by officials and Reuters' interviews with diplomatic and political sources, here is how the plan looks so far:

-- Negotiations are under way over specialized international forces or teams, equipped to search out and destroy smuggling tunnels, being sent to what Israel calls the Philadelphi corridor that separates the Gaza Strip and Egypt. The size and make-up of these contingents has yet to be determined but a senior European diplomat said world and regional powers had the resources to patrol the 15-km (9-mile) length of the corridor, which is a few hundred meters wide, possibly from both the Egyptian and Palestinian sides. "It can be done," the diplomat said.

-- Any deployment to combat smuggling would require Egypt's consent. On the Palestinian side, formal consent would likely come from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who is bitterly at odds with Hamas. Egypt would seek Hamas's tacit approval.

-- In addition to new anti-smuggling measures along the Philadelphi corridor, Israel and Western powers are discussing a naval contingent to prevent smuggling by sea. It is unclear how this might work, a senior diplomat said. An Israeli defense official said the bulk of the arms smuggling takes place through the tunnels but that there is a significant amount by sea, too. "We'd like to see more action on the Egyptian side, especially with the smaller smuggling boats that run out of places like Suez and Port Said," the defense official said.

-- Western powers want Rafah, Gaza's only border crossing with Egypt, to reopen. It has been largely closed since Hamas routed Abbas's forces and took full control of Gaza in June 2007. They want operations there to be overseen by Abbas's forces and European monitors. They want Gaza's main commercial crossings with Israel to be reopened to humanitarian goods, though it is unclear how much control Israel would be prepared to cede to Abbas or groups like the United Nations.

 

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