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Israel, Palestinians Sign Agreement on Gaza Seaport
Israel and the Palestinian National Authority have signed an agreement for the construction of a seaport in the Palestinian self-rule Gaza Strip, Israeli Prime Minister's Office announced Thursday afternoon.
The agreement was signed by Israeli negotiator Oded Eran and his Palestinian counterpart Saeb Erekat during their talks Wednesday night, according to the statement.
Israel had already agreed in principle to the construction of the seaport in the Sharm el Sheikh Memorandum signed by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat one year ago.
However, two outstanding problems, namely the security arrangement of the port and the environmental effect of the building, had held back the opening of the seaport since then. After several weeks' tough negotiations recently, the two sides finally reach an agreement Wednesday night.
Barak's office said the Palestinians intended to begin construction immediacy following the agreement signing and the seaport will become ready within one and a half years.
The funds for the construction, about 120 million U.S. dollars, will be donated by France and Holland, who will send their respective construction companies to build the port.
The deal is widely regarded as a positive signal while the two sides are waiting for the bridging proposals for a final peace accord being prepared by the United States and to be presented to them in the next few days.
The sides hope the proposals will break the peace deadlock since the Camp David summit between Barak, Arafat and U.S. President Bill Clinton failed to reach any agreement in July.
During Wednesday night's talks, Eran and Erekat also discussed establishing a free trade zone between them after they reached a permanent deal and the Palestinians declared independence.
Eran said Wednesday that the two sides had already agreed in principle to the creation of such a free trade area.
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