Jerusalem ? Israel and the Palestinians, under strong U.S. pressure, reached an agreement Tuesday to open Gaza’s borders starting Nov. 25, a step vital to turning the economically crippled territory into a success in the wake of Israel’s withdrawal.

The deal, struck during a marathon negotiating session run by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, gives Palestinians control over a border for the first time, allowing them to travel freely into Egypt and to export their goods. Israel will be able to see who comes and goes, with the help of European monitors, but Palestinians will retain final authority.

“This agreement is intended to give Palestinian people the freedom to move, to trade, to live ordinary lives,” Rice said.

The deal provides a much-needed boost to Gaza’s economy and strengthens Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas ahead of Jan. 25 parliament elections. Gaza is seen as a test for how the Palestinians would handle an independent state.

Violence could still derail the deal, as it has countless other agreements between the two sides. But officials were upbeat, with Rice lauding it as a “big step forward” in Israeli-Palestinian relations badly damaged by five years of bloody fighting.

Negotiators immediately began preparing for the gritty work of sorting out the details of the border agreement, which also will release tens of millions of dollars in international aid for rebuilding Gaza.

The deal marked the most intensive U.S. involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in years, and there were hopes that its success would encourage Rice to become more personally involved in the future.