Brussels, 20/01/2009 (Agence Europe) - Diplomacy and the concern to organise emergency aid for the population of Gaza come back into play, taking advantage of the ceasefire that has been effective for the past two days and that should last at least until 25 January, as the Hamas has accepted a one-week truce. The vital question remains that of control of crossing points and the distribution of aid.
After the decisions of the Sharm el-Sheikh summit and the visit that same day in Israel of Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, several of his European counterparts and the French President Nicolas Sarkozy (see EUROPE 9821), the Czech EU Presidency states in a press release that it has decided to convene two meetings on current issues this week in Brussels. The meeting on Wednesday 21 January will take the form of an EU27 plus Israel dinner, and that on Sunday 25 January will take the form of a dinner hosted by the Presidency for the EU27 plus Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, and the Palestinian National Authority. “Both meetings will take place at the level of ministers of foreign affairs”, the press release states. A source close to the Czech Presidency says “we are now waiting for all parties to confirm that they will attend” the dinners, adding that confirmation of attendance was already “beginning to arrive”. The Palestinians have already given their agreement on condition that at this stage there is no direct contact with Israel.
According to the same Czech source cited by different agencies, Europeans seek to determine how to reach a permanent ceasefire in Gaza after the fragile ceasefires unilaterally declared by Israel and by Hamas. They also plan to examine “possibilities for stepping up humanitarian aid” for the population in the wake of the Israeli offensive. In order to facilitate the delivery of aid, discussions are for now focusing on the conditions for opening up “passing points” and on the security of such points, taking into account the commitment taken separately but in a concordant way by the United States and the EU to keep the trafficking of weapons into Gaza in check. The main passing point is the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, which was supervised by the Europeans until Hamas took over control of the Gaza Strip. Services under Javier Solana, EU High Representative for the CFSP, state they are working on the hypothesis that Europe will be called upon to make a contribution and are preparing to redeploy the EUBAM Rafah border crossing mission created after the agreement on 15 November 2005 between Israel and the Palestinian Authority for the control of border points. The agreement had received the Council's support (Council decision of 21 November 2005), with the EU offering to play the role of third party. Its presence was effective until 9 June 2007 and the control mission has remained on the back burner since then, due to Hamas opposition. The Palestinian Authority is, on the other hand, in favour of this presence and awaits the practical arrangements for relaunching it.
France, for its part, is very actively involved on the ground and states that it “supports the Egyptian initiative to rapidly organise a conference in Cairo to identify the most urgent needs of Gaza (humanitarian and reconstruction) and to mobilise donor countries together alongside the Palestinian Authority, which must ensure the control and supervision of the international community's engagement”. A French spokesman has confirmed that Egypt intends to invite Israeli officials and Palestinian groups to Cairo on Thursday for bilateral talks. He went on to add: “France and the European Union are ready to shoulder all their responsibilities, in support of Egyptian efforts, to help consolidate the ceasefire. We are thus available to provide different forms of assistance, to combat arms smuggling in cooperation with the parties concerned, and to promote reopening of the border crossing points. Also, it is urgent to launch talks backed by the international community so that the Palestinian State may be created. An international conference must be organised as soon as possible with this in mind”. (F.B./transl.jl).