TEL AVIV, Israel, June 25 (UPI) -- Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said Friday Israel will withdraw from the Gaza border with Egyptian only if all cross border arms smuggling stops.
Mofaz described to U.S. Assistant Secretary of State William Burns Israel's preparations for a unilateral withdrawal from Gaza that should be completed by the end of 2005, Ha'aretz reported Friday.
Mofaz said Israel hopes to pull out of Gaza by the end of August, the Jerusalem Post reported, but would not do so unless it is convinced arms smuggling will end. He said he is encouraged by Egypt's involvement.
The Israeli minister who met Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman in Tel Aviv Wednesday, said he sensed the Egyptians were making honest and serious efforts to ensure security arrangements in the Gaza Strip are ready by the time Israel withdraws, Ha'aretz reported. However, he added, he suspected Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and leaders of Palestinians militant organizations would do all they could to thwart Egyptian efforts.
Egypt has offered to send as many as 200 security experts to Gaza to train the Palestinians, providing it receives firm assurances they will not get caught in any Israeli-Palestinian clash, Ha'aretz said.
