JERUSALEM, Oct 24: Israel is acting as if it never withdrew from the Gaza Strip, stalling agreements with the Palestinians on issues such as access to the territory and links with the West Bank, an international envoy charged.

Former World Bank chief James Wolfensohn said in a letter to members of the Middle East quartet — the United Nations, European Union, Russia and United States — that time was running short to resolve disagreements and the security situation was liable to frighten off investors and donors.

“The government of Israel, with its important security concerns, is loath to relinquish control, almost acting as though there has been no withdrawal, delaying making difficult decisions and preferring to take difficult matters back into slow-moving subcommittees,” he wrote in the letter.

“Until the movement issues are resolved however, and the PA (Palestinian Authority) is able to provide stable governance and to reassert civil control, we will be hard-pressed to convince governments or investors that anything much has changed, and that this is truly a bankable part of the world once again.”

Mr Wolfensohn, reporting back to the quartet after a recent visit to the region, said he had hoped to broker a deal on the future of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt which has been essentially closed since Israel pulled its troops out some six weeks ago.

“While the Palestinians were eager to get to closure (on Rafah), the GOI (Israel) preferred to leave difficult questions to committees that will not meet until after the Jewish holidays” later this week, he said.

Wolfensohn said World Bank representatives had chaired a large number of trilateral coordination meetings on the question of access for Palestinians into Israel since early July. Citing security concerns, Israel has reduced the flow of goods and civilians to a trickle since September.

While he believed agreement could be reached with a couple of days of concentrated effort, the Israelis had not been willing to discuss the issue for six weeks.

“We do not have the luxury of adopting such a leisurely approach and our Israeli colleagues have promised a greater sense of urgency immediately following the holidays.”

On the question of links between Gaza and the West Bank, Wolfensohn said he had proposed a system of convoys, initially for passengers and then for cargo trucks, as a temporary solution.

“Despite an earlier commitment in June to introduce convoys, GOI has not been willing to enter bilateral or trilateral discussions on their implementation.”—AFP