Israel okays historic Egypt deployment
Afp, Cairo
Israel's parliament Wednesday approved an historic plan for Egyptian border guards to patrol along the Gaza border after the last Israeli troops leave the Palestinian territory next month. The deal, which has taken months to negotiate, will see 750 lightly armed officers fan out to stop weapons being smuggled into the Gaza Strip, when all Israeli soldiers are recalled from the territory after a 38-year occupation. MPs voted overwhelmingly in favour of the deployment after Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz delivered a passionate defence of the agreement with Cairo. It will be first paramilitary deployment on the border since the 1967 Middle East war when Israel seized Gaza, then administered by Egypt, and the Sinai Peninsula.
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