Opening of border crossing to signal new era for Gaza

THE Palestinians took control of a border for the first time with the festive opening yesterday of the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt - a milestone on their rocky path to independence and a rare moment of joy for fenced-in Gazans.

The inauguration of the crossing, which will not open to traffic until today - was attended by scores of local and international dignitaries. It was hailed as the beginning of a new era for Palestinians, but especially the people of Gaza, badly demoralised after five years of bloody fighting with Israel.

"From this moment, we feel that we are free," said Fathia Najar, 55, one of a group of Palestinian travellers waiting to cross the border when the terminal begins operations. "Before this, we lived in a jail."

The opening of the border - under an agreement with Israel - bolstered Mahmoud Abbas' message that independence can only be won through negotiations, and gave the Palestinian leader a boost ahead of January 25 parliamentary polls fiercely contested by the Islamic Hamas group.

Meanwhile, officials said the EU is preparing a report on east Jerusalem which is expected to be highly critical of Israeli settlement activity and the security barrier Israel is constructing to keep out Palestinian attackers.

The report, due to be presented at a December 12 meeting of EU foreign ministers, is also likely to raise concerns about restrictions on the movement of Palestinians, particularly in the run-up to the Palestinian parliamentary elections in January.

"There are developments there which are of concern to us," said EU spokeswoman Cristina Gallach, including "all the questions of settlements, the question of mobility, the question of the impact of the barrier."

European officials denied media reports that an early draft of that document accused Israel of effectively annexing east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians hope to establish as the capital of a future state.

"This report is not true," Italian Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini told a news conference in Rome. "There isn't and there hasn't been any EU report accusing Israel."

Mr Abbas said he hoped the Palestinians' new gate to the world would spur investment, but said there can be no economic recovery without an end to the rampant lawlessness in the Palestinian territories.

International officials made reopening Rafah under Palestinian control a top priority to give Gazans concrete proof that their lives were improving after the withdrawal. Israel had been reluctant to let the Palestinians control the crossing, fearing that militants and weapons would be able to cross.

But Israel gave in and agreed last week - after months of international mediation and a final push by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice - to let the Palestinians run the crossing under the gaze of European monitors.

* The remains of three Hezbollah guerrillas killed by Israeli forces in cross-border fighting this week were turned over to Lebanon yesterday in a move that averted a further deterioration in Lebanese-Israeli tensions.

The bodies were taken to southern Lebanon's Naqoura border crossing by vehicles of the International Committee of the Red Cross.