September 30, 2002	Monday	Rajab 22, 1423

TEL AVIV, Sept 29: As many as 33,000 Palestinians are to receive permission to cross the border and begin working in Israeli areas starting on Sunday despite the fighting and terrorist attacks that have plagued the region, Israeli news reports said.

Israeli radio said early Sunday that 13,000 additional Palestinians would be allowed immediately to join the 20,000 others who have already been granted work permits to cross over the tightly guarded border into Israel from the occupied Palestinian region.

Among the more than 30,000 people affected by the decision are about 8,000 Palestinian business people who were not allowed over the past two years to leave the autonomous Palestinian regions.

Before the beginning of the current conflict more than 120,000 Palestinians livingin Gaza and the West Bank had been allowed to work in Israel.

The decision to increase the number of current work permits to as many as 33,000 people reportedly was made by Israeli Defence Minister Benjamin Ben-Elieser.—dpa