 TEL AVIV - Israel would allow direct flights into Gaza in the event of Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat's death in France, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on Saturday. The reported change in policy would allow representatives from hostile Arab countries to enter Gaza and attend an Arafat funeral without passing through Israeli border controls.
| I'm sure Mossad is drooling over the possibilities ... |
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon would allow several so-called good will guests to visit Arafat's successor, Haaretz said. Israel will also loosen humanitarian restrictions in the Palestinian territories, assuming that any new Palestinian leadership would take action against militants and enforce a ceasefire.
Israel and the Palestinians have already disagreed over a prospective burial site, with the Sharon government insisting that he be buried in Gaza. Arafat had always wanted to be buried on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, which the Israelis categorically reject. "Arafat will not be buried in Jerusalem, just as Osama bin Laden will not be buried in Arlington National Cemetery," Sharon spokesman Ra'anan Gissin told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa on Friday.
| The proper analogy, even! |
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