WASHINGTON — The United States has agreed to Israel's request to lead an international effort to halt weapons smuggling into the Gaza Strip , raising the prospects for a cease-fire in a conflict that's claimed more than 1,000 lives, U.S. officials and diplomats said Friday.
Under the agreement, the outgoing Bush administration pledged to help track and interdict weapons shipments before they reach Gaza , which the militant Palestinian group Hamas has used as launching pad for rocket attacks on Israel .
The deal was being signed Friday in Washington by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice , in one of her last official acts in office, and Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni .
Rice said Friday that the U.S.-Israeli memorandum of understanding "should be thought of as one of the elements of trying to bring into being a durable cease-fire, a cease-fire that can actually hold."
Israel , which began attacks on Gaza three weeks ago in response to the rocket fire, has said it won't reopen the territory's border crossings until steps are taken to stop arms smuggling.
The deal seems likely to provide a boost for cease-fire talks in Cairo, Egypt , that the Egyptian government is mediating. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said Thursday that while the talks were making progress, it could take several more days to reach a deal.
The United States and Israel also have discussed having the Army Corps of Engineers build some kind of barrier — such as trenches or a submerged wall — to prevent the digging of underground tunnels for smuggling weapons from Egypt into Gaza , officials and diplomats said.
The diplomats and officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly.
source : http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20090116/wl_mcclatchy/3146444
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