On Thursday 20 November, European foreign affairs ministers discussed the support that the EU could provide for the implementation of the Middle East peace plan, in particular through its Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) missions.
“Peace depends on Hamas not playing a role, but also on the involvement of international partners. EU staff are already at work in the coordination centre, focusing on humanitarian and security issues”, explained EU High Representative, Kaja Kallas, after the EU Council meeting.
The plan is “a crucial opportunity that must not be missed. Measures must be taken immediately to guarantee lasting peace in the region”, explained the Greek minister, Evangelos Venizelos.
According to the Spanish minister, José Manuel Albares, “Europe’s voice in this still fragile peace process underway in Gaza must be raised in support of the Palestinian Authority, clearly stating that European conditions and interests must be taken into account”.
While the Europeans are still awaiting authorisation from Israel to reactivate its border assistance mission, EUBAM Rafah, in order to allow people to leave but also to enter Gaza, ministers examined the possibilities of extending the EU’s border monitoring mission in Rafah to other crossing points.
They also discussed the possibility of the EU police support mission - EUPOL COPPS - training the Palestinian police in Gaza. The mission is already training police officers in the West Bank.
“In terms of security, we support the objective of training 3,000 Palestinian police and security forces by European forces, and France is ready to deploy around 100 gendarmes to the Palestinian territories for this purpose”, explained the French minister, Jean-Noël Barrot.
His Swedish, Dutch, German, Austrian and Italian counterparts have publicly expressed their countries’ willingness to take part in this training, which could be held in Jordan or Egypt.
Additional financial support. Ministers also discussed the support to be given to the Palestinian Authority, which was also discussed at the Donors Conference, held in parallel with the Council.
In the margins of this Conference, the EU, along with Germany, Luxembourg, Slovenia and Spain, signed new contribution agreements worth more than €82 million, representing additional financial support from the Member States channelled through the EU’s PEGASE mechanism. Total commitments for this year amount to more than €88 million, with previous contributions from Finland, Ireland, Italy and Spain, explained the Commissioner for the Mediterranean, Dubravka Šuica.
Mr Barrot also recalled that the French President, Emmanuel Macron, had announced the creation of a joint committee to prepare in advance the work of constitutional and institutional reform of the Palestinian Authority in order to reform and strengthen it, so that when the time comes, it can assume its responsibilities concerning administration in Gaza. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)