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Sticking with the "Bethlehem-Gaza" Plan - For Now
(Ha'aretz) Ze’ev Schiff - Despite the slow progress in advancing regional cease-fires (Gaza and Bethlehem First), the IDF is sticking to the plan without setting a timetable. The PA is engaged in a difficult debate with the Hamas, and the defense establishment is waiting to see how that turns out. If indeed there is a further decline in the number of incidents, the next step will be up to Israel. It does not appear that at this stage Israel intends to move to lines it held previously in the Gaza Strip, but it does intend to open roads to traffic, to expand the fishing zone for the Palestinians in the Mediterranean, and to allow thousands more Palestinians into Israel to work. These are all humanitarian steps that will have an economic influence on the population.