RAMALLAH, West Bank, 5 August 2005 — An international envoy said yesterday he had made significant progress toward reaching an Israeli-Palestinian deal on key economic aspects of a Gaza pullout Israel plans to begin on Aug. 17. “My timetable is to resolve many of these issues by the end of the withdrawal, but frankly in the next 10 days we have to get agreement in principle on many of these issues,” said envoy James Wolfensohn.
Wolfensohn, a former World Bank president, represents the “Quartet” of Middle East peace mediators and has been holding extensive talks with Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Both sides are discussing what to do with the rubble Israel leaves behind after it carries out plans to demolish homes in the 21 Gaza settlements it intends to evacuate over a three-week period.
The movement of people and goods across Gaza’s border with Israel and Egypt as well as the opening of a seaport and an airport in the territory is also high on Wolfensohn’s agenda. “I think we’ve done it on the houses, I think we’re doing it on the crossings, and I see some real progress,” Wolfensohn said after meeting Palestinian Economy Minister Mazen Sonnoqrot in the West Bank city of Ramallah.