On Monday 20 October in Luxembourg, the European foreign affairs ministers discussed the support the EU could give to the Middle East peace plan.
The ministers called for humanitarian aid to be allowed into Gaza. “Our priority now must be to reinforce and deliver humanitarian aid as quickly as possible”, explained the Polish minister, Ignacy Niemczycki. “Europe has a lot to contribute, particularly in terms of humanitarian aid”, added the Spaniard José Manuel Albares, while the European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid, Hadja Lahbib, called for the 170,000 tonnes of EU humanitarian aid to be allowed into the Palestinian enclave, saying she was prepared to organise air transport via Egypt.
For his part, the French minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, has called for all crossing points to be opened. One of these points is Rafah, where the EU is waiting to redeploy its EUBAM mission. “We are ready to redeploy”, explained the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, adding that this would require the approval of Israel and Egypt. The Palestinian Authority has already given its agreement, according to one source.
Mr Barrot called for EUBAM Rafah to be strengthened, “so that it can play its full part to not only ensure the safe passage of people, but also of goods that must arrive in large quantities in Gaza to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people”.
According to the French minister, “Europe stands ready to secure the crossing points”, he explained. “We must work to consolidate this ceasefire. To this end, the EUBAM Rafah mission and the EUPOL COPPS (Palestinian police training) mission are essential, and their mandate must be broadened to include all aspects of stabilisation”, added Mr Albares. According to draft European Council conclusions dated 17 October, the European Heads of State or Government should call for the mandates of these missions to be strengthened.
Furthermore, according to Mr Barrot, EUPOL COPPS must be able to “deploy in Gaza and the surrounding countries to train Palestinian police officers, to support the reforms we expect from the Palestinian Authority and to prepare the essential process of disarming Hamas”. In a working document, the European External Action Service has called for an assessment and exploration of ways of funding and providing expertise in disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR).
Mr Barrot specified that the Palestinian police would be supported by an international stabilisation force to be given a mandate by the United Nations, a mandate upon which France is currently working with the Americans and the British.
“The European Union stands ready to contribute to Gaza’s stabilisation, transitional governance, recovery and reconstruction”, European leaders are expected to emphasise at their summit on 23 October. The Europeans expect to have a place on the Peace Committee announced in Donald Trump’s peace plan.
Donors’ conference on 20 November. In addition to the conference on reconstruction due to be held at the end of November, the group of donors for Palestine will meet for the first time on 20 November, on the fringes of the next Foreign Affairs Council, announced the Commissioner for the Mediterranean, Dubravka Šuica. She pointed out that this was not just a donors’ group, but also a reform group, which would discuss the reforms envisaged by the Palestinian Authority.
No decision on sanctions. Faced with a delicate situation, the measures proposed by the European Commission and the High Representative against the Israeli government and Hamas this summer still remain on the table, but no decision will be taken on them for the time being. Maintaining them keeps the pressure on the various parties, according to several sources.
“We’re not ruling them out, because the situation is fragile and we need to see an improvement in humanitarian aid to Gaza. We must also ensure that Palestinian revenues are transferred to Palestine or released by the Israeli authorities. Journalists and humanitarian workers must be able to enter the country, and international NGOs must be able to register without restrictions”, explained the High Representative.
See the conclusions of the European Council: https://aeur.eu/f/j1e (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)