Pages

Thursday, April 07, 2005

Another Oslo deja-vu moment: Palestinians ask Israel for free weapons

Amazing how history repeats itself!
Senior officials in the Palestinian Authority have presented a plan to American and Israeli officials for coordinating the disengagement from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank.

A source involved in the contacts told Haaretz on Wednesday that the plan includes coordinating the handover of overall security responsibility in the areas the Israel Defense Forces leaves to the PA's National Security force; a complete cease-fire during the evacuation process; and a Palestinian commitment to take all necessary steps to prevent shooting at Israeli targets outside the Strip.

However, the Palestinians condition the plan on Israel agreement to it and on Israeli help in equipping the Gazan security forces with weapons and other equipment necessary for upholding law and order in Gaza. They say that during the conflict with the Israelis over the last four years, the PA security services lost their combat capabilities and that the armed organizations have far more weapons than the forces under the authority of the PA.