http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1056178.html
update - 10:27 17/01/2009
Israel's Cabinet to vote Saturday on unilateral Gaza truce
By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent, and The Associated Press
Tags: Gaza, Israel News, Hamas, IDF
The cabinet will hold a vote on Saturday evening to decide whether to
enact a unilateral cease-fire with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The decision would mean Israel has put an end to the three-week-long
Operation Cast Lead without an agreement with Hamas, relying instead on the
support of the United States and Egypt in battling arms smuggling into Gaza.
A government source emphasized that there has been great progress with
Egypt in reaching an agreement on fighting arms smuggling. The deal would
require the combined use of technological measures on the border between Gaza
and Egypt, operations against smugglers in the southern Gaza town of Rafah and
the use of international experts to identify smuggling tunnels on the border.
The deal would also call for cooperation between Israel and Egypt on
matters relating to the Gaza Strip in which they have shared interests, without
the interference of Hamas.
Egypt is at the moment considering whether to organize a summit in the
near future in Cairo between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Egyptian President
Hosni Mubarak and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
The United States and Israel signed an agreement on Friday aimed at
stopping the smuggling of weapons into the Gaza Strip, U.S. Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice said.
The deal includes measures meant to fight arms smuggling from Iran to
Gaza, with the policing to take place throughout the route by which the arms
reach Gaza, including patrols of the Persian Gulf, Sudan and neighboring
states.
The two-and-a-half page document outlines a framework under which the
United States will provide military and intelligence assets, including
detection and surveillance equipment, as well as logistical help and training
to Israel, Egypt and other nations in the region. The equipment and training
would be used for monitoring Gaza's land and sea borders.
The document also calls for the U.S. to expand work with its NATO
partners in the effort, particularly in the Red Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Gulf of
Aden, Indian Ocean and eastern Africa, according to a text.
It also commits Washington to use relevant components of the U.S.
military to assist Mideast governments in preventing weapons and explosives
flows to Gaza that originate in or transit their territories.
Although signed by the Bush administration, the agreement is binding on
the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama and Rice and State
Department spokesman Sean McCormack said both Obama and Secretary of
State-designate Hillary Rodham Clinton had been briefed on the details.
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