Rice said that although the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and northern Samaria was a positive and important step, Israel must continue to empower the Palestinian Authority and assist in establishing a Palestinian state.
"I expect to continue to work with you and your camp,” Rice told Sharon a the start of the meeting, “and to progress toward the two-state solution in which Israel and the Palestinian state can live in peace, free and free of terror."
She went on to apply intense pressure upon PM Sharon to relax Israel’s security requirements in order to open the Rafiach border between Gaza and Egypt. Israel has insisted on closed circuit cameras being installed in the Rafiach Crossing, but the PA refuses to allow such a move. PA sources later announced that a deal had been reached that would enable the opening of the border.
Prior to Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza, Rafiach was a major point for weapons smuggling, with hundreds of arms-smuggling tunnels uncovered and destroyed in recent years in extensive IDF operations. Following the withdrawal, despite PA and Egyptian guarantees, the border was left wide open for over a week, enabling the transport of unknown amounts of heavy weaponry into Gaza.
Rice also conveyed the U.S. perspective with regard to the Hamas terror group taking part in PA elections. She said that she believes that if Hamas participates in the elections, it will actually be easier to compel Hamas to disarm because the pressure will come from the entire international community. She said that this was what had happened in northern Ireland and Angola, but assured Sharon that the U.S. would never hold contacts with Hamas or Islamic Jihad even if they are in the administration.
Rice also demanded that Israel expand the exports and granting of work-permits to PA residents at the Karni Crossing from Gaza to Israel – a reality difficult to implement due to PA refusal to accede to Israeli security needs. Quartet envoy James Wolfensohn has also been applying pressure upon Israeli to relinquish its security demands in favor of enabling free passage to residents of the PA. Wolfensohn told reporters that Israel is “entrenching itself in security considerations, transforming the Gaza Strip into an enormous prison.”
One of the arguments made prior to the withdrawal from Gaza and northern Samaria by pro-Disengagement politicians was that a Gaza withdrawal would create separation between Israelis and PA residents. Opponents, on the other hand, predicted that the pressure to open the crossings would make such a claim incorrect, pointing out that most terror attacks emanating from Gaza were the result of Arabs taking advantage of the crossings. The crossings have remained operational following the withdrawal, with scaled-back Israeli security infrastructure and growing international pressure to allow Gaza’s Arabs and their exports increased access to Israel.