Prime Minister Olmert and President Abbas did not comment following their meeting, but the situation in Gaza dominated their talks Sunday at Mr. Olmert's residence in Jerusalem.
Mr. Abbas has called on Israel and the international community to allow Palestinian Authority security forces to take control of the border crossing points in the Gaza Strip. He says that will ease the current crisis at the Rafah crossing point between Egypt and Gaza - and the crossing points between Gaza and Israel that have been closed by Israel because of Palestinian rocket attacks.
David Baker a spokesman for Mr. Olmert says, for now, Israel will not comment on Mr. Abbas' proposal, preferring to wait until Mr. Abbas holds talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Wednesday. Baker does say, in their talks on Sunday, both men agreed to work together to try and avoid a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. "They discussed the need to prevent a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip and both leaders committed themselves toward enabling the providing of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip," said Baker. |