Word: rafah
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Then came eleven years of Israeli occupation, and the desert began to bloom. The Israelis settled 4,500 people there, primarily in the towns of Yamit and Ofi-ra and in 15 agricultural communities. They grew vegetables in Rafah and built resorts on the Gulf of Aqaba. They spent $150 million on civilian enterprises and $2 billion on military installations, including two big new airfields, two old ones, three early warning stations and about 1,000 miles of roads. Jerusalem continued to develop the Sinai even after the disengagement agreements of 1974 and 1975, under which the Israelis pulled back...
...following matters are agreed between the parties: The full exercise of Egyptian sovereignty up to the internationally recognized border between Egypt and mandated Palestine; the withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from the Sinai: the use of airfields left by the Israelis near El Arish, Rafah, Ras en Naqband, Sharm el Sheikh for civilian purposes only, including commercial use by all nations; the right of free passage of ships of Israel through the Gulf of Suez and the Suez Canal...After a peace treaty is signed, and after the interim withdrawal is complete, normal relations will be established between Egypt...
...specifically told the Egyptians and other leaders: "We are ready to transfer the airbase at Sharm el Sheikh to the U.N. and keep some civilian installations there for a limited period. We are ready to restore your sovereignty over all of Sinai and to put our settlements in the Rafah area under your flag. We suggest small Israeli civilian settlements [in Sinai] instead of army installations. The buffer zone between the two armies in Sinai should be enlarged so that there will be no chance of a future confrontation...
...Sinai, which has a recognized international border, and the West Bank, where all the lines resulted from wars. On [Israel's] military presence, I feel that it could be negotiable. On the settlements, the real call, and I disagree with it, was to remove the settlements in the Rafah area [in northern Sinai]. I did not hear similar language on the West Bank settlements...
...limited progress last week at the second round of the military talks in Cairo. At the outset, nobody was particularly optimistic, but in three days of talks the delegates narrowed the gap toward a Sinai settlement. The Egyptians reportedly suggested that the Israelis could keep their settlements in the Rafah salient of the northern Sinai for a limited time (the exact period to be decided later), as part of a U.N. buffer zone, and retain their settlements along the Gulf of Aqaba?but only under Egyptian rule, as Cairo's "welcome guests." More important, the Egyptians seemed ready to allow...