May 8, 2011

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (Ma'an) -- Gaza's caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs and Planning Mohammad Awad told Ma'an on Sunday that Egypt's transitional leadership was seriously studying the option of opening a consulate in Gaza City to facilitate communication with Gaza officials.

An office in the coastal enclave, the official said, would help smooth communications between Palestinian leaders and factions in Gaza, and was being considered as an option given the recent signing of unity accords between rival factions Hamas and Fatah, accords Egypt has pledged to oversee as the agreement is implemented.

Speaking to reporters in Rafah on mechanisms being discussed to facilitate the opening of the Egypt-Gaza border crossing in the city, Awad said the decision to open an Egyptian office in Gaza would have little effect on the opening of the crossing.

"Egypt is not a party to the 2005 agreement," he said, referring to a set of procedures negotiated between Europe, the Palestinian Authority and Israel six years earlier, which he said was being looked at for re-implementation.

The agreement was set to have seen EU monitoring of the crossing with PA administration, it was essentially shelved in 2006, though an EU mission for the crossing has been renewed each year in the hopes for an opening.

Awad said that the 2005 agreement was one of a number of concepts on the table to facilitate reconstruction efforts in Gaza. "We are looking at anything that will guarantee the interests of the Palestinian people," he said.

The official added that sides hammering out the details of the unity agreement are working to create an atmosphere that will encourage Egypt to permanently open their side of the Rafah crossing, a move that Egypt's transition leadership appears amenable to.

Awwad said officials also hoped to increase economic cooperation between Egypt and Gaza.