On the evening of Friday 13 September, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, announced that the conditions had not been met for redeploying the EUBAM Rafah mission.
“Unfortunately, we are not close, indeed we are still far from reaching an agreement that will allow this mission to be deployed again”, he announced to the media at the end of the ministerial meeting on “Implementing the Two-State Solution” in Madrid.
Mr Borrell said he was prepared to send staff home, but stressed that this would have to be done “under guaranteed security conditions and acceptable political conditions”. “At present, neither of these things has been achieved. The mission cannot therefore be deployed for the time being. It would be a non-executive observation and support mission, but it means that the Palestinian Authority must be present”, he explained.
He felt that a ceasefire was necessary. “As long as there is no ceasefire, everything else is just talk for the sake of talk”, he warned. A ceasefire which, in his opinion, will not be achieved immediately. “There is little hope that this can be achieved in the short term, according to the information available to me”, he admitted.
Mr Borrell calls for action. On his blog, Mr Borrell also expressed his exasperation at the lack of action by the international community. Referring to Queen Rania of Jordan’s speech on Gaza, the High Representative said that when the principles of international law, respect for human rights, accountability and security are violated, “mere words of condemnation are not enough”.
“Unless we agree through an EU common position to act and hold those who fuel the conflict and undermine the two-state solution to account, our words will sound hollow and impunity will continue to prevail”, he warned. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)