GAZA CITY — The Palestinian Authority said Israel has agreed to the
entry of Palestinian police into communities to be evacuated by the Jewish
state.
PA officials said Israel has agreed that Palestinian security forces
could enter the 21 Jewish communities before their evacuation, scheduled to
begin on Aug. 17. They said the entry of PA police would seek to ensure that
looters do
not enter the communities.
Interior Ministry spokesman Tawfiq Abu Khoussa said Israel agreed to the
entry of PA forces into Gaza Strip communities before the completion of the
evacuation. Abu Khoussa did not specify.
[On Monday, Palestinian gunners resumed missile fire toward Israel. A
Kassam-class short-range missile fired from the northern Gaza Strip landed
in the Israeli city of Sderot. There were no reports of injuries.]
The ministry spokesman said PA troops would close the Israeli
communities and deploy teams to search for mines and unexploded ordnance.
Abu Khoussa said the closure would last three days.
[On Sunday, a senior Fatah official was abducted from his office in the
central Gaza Strip town of Khan Yunis. Suleiman Al Fara was a representative
of Fatah chief Farouk Khaddoumy, who announced the formation of a so-called
Popular Army to maintain order in the region. The abduction was attributed
to the PA Preventive Security Apparatus and sparked the seizure of official
buildings by Fatah gunmen.]
Israel said it would not hand over control of the evacuated areas in the
Gaza Strip until October. Israeli spokespeople said the evacuation of an
estimated 10,000 Jewish residents would take up to five weeks.
But last month, U.S. envoy Gen. William Ward told the House
International Relations Committee that PA forces would work with Israeli
troops during the pullout. Ward said PA troops would trail Israeli forces as
they evict residents and then enter the evacuated communities.
The PA forces were being trained by Egyptian security officers in the
Gaza Strip. About 30 Egyptians have begun to train 5,000
members of a new force to protect the evacuated Israeli communities.
"They will support the Palestinian Authority training plan by providing
assistance and advice," a PA official said.
Officials said the Egyptian security delegation would remain in the Gaza
Strip until the end of 2005. They said the delegation would also seek to
increase coordination between security forces as well as with Egypt.
