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THE PALESTINIAN Football Association signed Israeli Arab Azmi Nassar as their new national team coach on a two-year contract.

Nassar had been in line for the position for several weeks but he was able to secure a deal with his new employers only after the Israeli authorities last week allowed him to travel to occupied Gaza.

Israelis are barred from travelling to Gaza, a territory Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war, due to fears for their safety. Nassar was given special permission to go there after senior Israeli political figures intervened on his behalf.

"I am very proud because my work with the Palestinian soccer team is not just a job but a national service," Nassar said during the signing ceremony at the Palestinian Olympic Committee headquarters in Gaza.

Palestinian FA chairman Ahmed Al-Afifi said Nassar's appointment was particularly advantageous as the coach could travel freely to see players in the West Bank, a separate Palestinian area cut off from Gaza.

Afifi complained of Israeli restrictions on movement of players between the two territories and even within each of the territories.

"Azmi has the advantage of being able to move freely between Gaza and the West Bank to train players and scout for talent," Afifi explained.

Nassar, who left Israeli third division outfit Maccabi Kafr Kana to take up his role, has also been charged with training Palestine's youth teams.

Nassar helped lay the foundations for the current Palestinian team in the 1990s when relations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority were cordial before the four-year-old Palestinian uprising began in October 2000.

Palestine did not advance to the next phase of the 2006 World Cup qualifying competition after finishing third in their four-team group in the Asian zone second stage tournament which ended last month.

The Palestine national team is made up by players from Gaza and the West Bank and by expatriates who live in Arab countries and in Chile.

Afifi said he expected training camps for all the players would be held in neighbouring countries before future participations in regional and international soccer events.

"We hope that things on the ground will be easier and that security conditions will be better to allow training the whole team in one place," he said.