http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=177929
Photo by: Ariel Jerozolimski/The Jerusalem Post)
'Israel agrees to ease blockade'
By JPOST.COM STAFF
06/09/2010 11:02
'Telegraph': Int'l team has drawn up guidelines for passage of aid.
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Negotiations have been going on under the radar since last week to ease the
blockade on Gaza and alleviate the difficulties faced by its population, the UK
Telegraph reported on Wednesday, citing Western officials.
According to the report, a confidential document was drawn up by various
Western mediators, among them the UK, to outline guidelines for the passage of
more aid to the besieged territory through Israel.
While officials in Jerusalem reportedly denied that the negotiations were
prompted by Israel's wish to evade culpability for the deaths of nine Turkish
nationals on board the Mavi Marmara, the Telegraph quoted one source as saying
there was a "quid pro quo deal" in the works.
Israel has turned down suggestions to set up an international or even
UN-mandated commission of inquiry to investigate the navy raid on the ship,
with Israel's Washington ambassador Michael Oren saying Israel "has the ability
and the right to investigate itself, not to be investigated by any
international board."
He added, "I don't think the United States would want an international inquiry
into its military activities in Afghanistan, for example."
Various international bodies, among them the Quartet for the Middle East,
reportedly urged Israel in the confidential document to replace the list of
items officially allowed into Gaza - 35 in all - with a list of items which are
expressly forbidden, as well as to allow construction materials in under UN
auspices. The document also called on Israel to ease the stringent security
which often causes bottlenecks at land crossings.
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