JERUSALEM, Nov. 15 (Xinhuanet) --Israel and the Palestinians clinched a long-awaited deal on Tuesday on Gaza border crossings after intense talks brokered by visiting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Israeli Radio said.

    Under the agreement, Palestinian customs officials will be stationed at the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and Gaza, with Israel inspecting goods passing through, while at the Rafah crossing there will be a communications center with videos filming people crossing the Egypt-Gaza border, the radio said.

    Videos will be monitored by Israeli officials, but the European Union observers will have the final say when disputes arise over passage for persons who Israel deems suspicious while the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) believes should be allowed to cross, the radio said.

    Determined to make progress in the deadlocked talks on the issue, Rice postponed her departure from the region late Monday, remaining in Jerusalem to hold further talks with officials from both sides.

    Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz held talks with Rice in Jerusalem early Tuesday to finalize details on the agreement.
The compromise was hammered out in Rice's separate talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, an Israeli security source said.

    Rafah crossing, the only exit for Gazans to the outside world, has been shut down since Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip in September.

    Re-opening the crossing is expected to facilitate free movement of Palestinian personnel and goods which in turn will help revive the strangled economy in the largely impoverished coastal strip.

    Rice hoped that her trip to the region, the fourth this year, would capitalize on fresh peace momentum raised by the Israeli pullout from Gaza and inject impetus to the moribund Mideast peace process. Enditem