BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union is in talks to revive a civilian mission to monitor the border crossing between Gaza and Egypt at Rafah following the announcement of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said.
A civilian EU mission to help monitor the Rafah crossing was set up under agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority in 2005, part of international help with peace efforts at a time when Israel had pulled troops and settlers from Gaza.
But the mission operated for only a year and a half before it was suspended when Hamas militants took control of the Gaza Strip and drove out the internationally recognised Palestinian Authority.
Kallas met with the Palestinian Authority’s Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa in Brussels on Friday morning and spoke on the phone with Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar.
The EU is “in discussions about redeploying our monitoring mission to Rafah to ensure the stability at the border, so we have it ready,” Kallas told reporters in Brussels.
Kallas said redeploying would require invitations from Israel and the Palestinian Authority as well as a cooperation agreement with Egypt. She said the mission now had ten international staff and eight locals on standby.
“We will also be ready to assist in reconstruction and recovery,” she said.
Kallas said the EU was committed to a two-state solution to the broader Israel-Palestinian conflict.
“Of course lasting peace means compromises on both sides,” she said. “I think there is a chance to prevent further loss of life with this ceasefire.”
(Reporting by Lili Bayer; Editing by Peter Graff)
