A self-governing Palestine will need a dedicated transport link between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Israel accepted this in principle as part of the Oslo Accords, but the route was left open. Naturally the Palestinians would prefer a line from Gaza City through Jerusalem, but Israelis would never accept the intrusion of a Palestinian road or railway across built-up Jewish neighbourhoods.
The shortest and cheapest route would be along the northern margin of the Negev Desert, from the Gaza Strip to the south-west end of the West Bank, through areas which are sparsely populated, largely by Bedouin nomads. This could well be negotiated as part of the shelf agreement on boundaries, trading possible Israeli provisions against equivalent Palestinian concessions in the West Bank.