Palestinians from the occupied territories do not come to Israel, and Israelis, who used to shop and eat in the West Bank and Gaza, stopped visiting when the second intifada began in 2000.
Israel to Halt Gaza Stops JERUSALEM, Feb. 25, (Reuters) -- The Israeli Army announced today that it would remove military checkpoints dividing the Gaza Strip just hours after General Powell urged Israel to lift its "siege" of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad say any cease-fire must be matched by Israeli agreement to halt military activity in the Gaza Strip, stop assassinating militant leaders and release Palestinian prisoners.
It is time, they said, for Israel to respond by easing the closings on the West Bank and Gaza and stop new construction in Jewish settlements.
Ms. Livni, who was at one point the lead negotiator in Israeli diplomacy with Palestinian leaders, enjoys a dovish reputation in much of the West, despite her support for invading Gaza to stop rocket fire by Hamas militants.
The Israeli insistence that the smuggling of rockets into Gaza be stopped was referred to elliptically as "other matters" that might also be taken up by the two sides.
The Israeli government's rationale for attacking Gaza was to stop the rocket attacks from Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza that had killed 30 Israeli citizens over the past six years.
Israeli forces should pull out of the Gaza Strip and stop their aggression". An Israeli military spokesman said the army's objectives in northern Gaza had been met, even though the number of Qassam rockets hitting Israel had increased, with 14 launched Friday.
And today he took brutal measures against the people of the West Bank and Gaza Strip to stop them from expressing it.
The attention of the world over the last week was focused on Egypt's dramatic intercession to end the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip and stop Palestinian rockets from being fired into Israel.
Hamas, the report said, would pledge not to strike any Israeli target and ensure other Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip also stop their attacks.
