The Gaza Strip- Egypt border will only reopen as part of an international accord, Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas said Monday, quashing speculation that Egypt and the Palestinians might operate a crossing there without Israel's consent.
Abbas spoke a day after his security forces blocked the last holes in the border fortifications, ending a week of chaos during which thousands of Gazans and Egyptians flooded across the frontier without controls. "The [border] terminal will be open when there is an international agreement," Abbas stated Monday.
"We want to do the right job at the right time because we want to act as a state, as a responsible authority," Abbas said. "Therefore, we are following up on the subject seriously with our brothers in Egypt. Until we reach agreement, we should be patient."
His comments came after Dr. Mahmoud El-Zahar , a senior Hamas figure called on the Palestinian Authority and the Egyptian government to reopen the crossing as soon as possible. "Hamas Movement calls Palestinian Authority to coordinate with Egypt to open the Palestinian Egyptian borders as soon as possible without any Israeli existence," El-Zahar said.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, speaking to U.S. Jewish figures in remarks broadcast Monday, vowed that the West Bank settlement of Ma'aleh Adumim will be linked to Jerusalem.
"Ma'aleh Adumim, the most beautiful town in the most beautiful area there - it's really unbelievable - will be connected to Jerusalem," Sharon noted.
