Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas wants to deploy some 900 troops to Bethlehem to maintain order during Christmas celebrations and is asking Israel to let the reinforcements stay on after the holiday, officials said Monday.

Bethlehem would become the next city on the list if the extra forces are allowed to remain, said Diab al-Ali, a senior Palestinian security commander. According to the AP, he said negotiations with Israel are continuing and that a decision is expected by the end of the week.

Bethlehem is expecting a good Christmas season, said Mayor Victor Batarseh. Information Minister Riad Malki said the number of tourists to the Palestinian areas has grown steadily since 2006, following a sharp decline in Israeli-Palestinian fighting. According to Malki, almost 1.2 million tourists have visited the West Bank this year, compared to 700,000 in all of 2007 and 400,000 in 2006. Hotel occupancy was 70 percent in 2008.

The surge in tourism has created 12,000 new jobs in Bethlehemhe said.

Meanwhile, on Monday, Israel opened its border crossings with the Gaza Strip for the first time in weeks, allowing fuel and humanitarian supplies into the area. Mahmoud Khazandar, head of the gas station owners' association, said Israel resumed pumping some diesel fuel to Gaza's only power plant.

Besides allowing in the fuel, Israel's Defense Minister Ehud Barak also ordered the crossings to open to allow food and medicine into the territory, his office said.

© 2008 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)