After marathon all-night negotiations, Israel and the Palestinian Authority today (Tuesday, 15 November) reached an agreement on the operation of the border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced in Jerusalem. Rice presided over the final round of talks.
"This agreement is intended to give Palestinian people the freedom to move, to trade, to live ordinary lives," Rice told a news conference. Under the agreement, starting December 15, Palestinians will be able to cross Israel in bus convoys to travel between the West Bank and Gaza, 150 truckloads of cargo will be allowed to be exported from Gaza through the Karni crossing into Israel, and construction of a Gaza City seaport is to begin soon.