Palestinians expect a breakthrough soon on one of the key sticking points in Israel's handover of the Gaza Strip to Palestinian control, cabinet minister Mohammed Dahlan said today.
He said Israel and the Palestinians were working to ensure Gaza's Rafah border crossing with Egypt - now manned by Israel and Egypt - be handed over to a combination of Egypt, the Palestinians and possibly a third party other than Israel.
The world was showing it understood the Palestinian desire not to have Gaza turned into a prison, Dahlan said, "and I expect a breakthrough in this regard." Dahlan is the Palestinian in charge of overseeing the Israeli pullout.
Israel finished extracting 8,500 settlers plus their supporters from Gaza this week, ahead of schedule, under Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to "disengage" from conflict with the Palestinians.
Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman is due to visit Gaza early next week, most likely on Monday, to discuss the Gaza handover, a Palestinian official said. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Wednesday.
Israel and Egypt finalised an agreement on Wednesday for Cairo to post police along its border with Gaza. Israel captured Gaza from Egyptian control in the 1967 Middle East war and intends to maintain its grip over Gaza's sea lanes and airspace.
Israel has not said when it will turn over Gaza's side of the border crossings to Palestinian control.
Dahlan, the civil affairs minister, told reporters in Gaza City: "So far we are still following up with the Israeli side the possibility of introducing a real change on the crossings. Now we have started to focus more on the Rafah terminal."
"The coordination and the entire operation have been moving according to the plans between us and the Israeli side and, to the contrary, much faster than it has been."