Can the EUBAM Rafah border surveillance mission restart?

(BRUSSELS2) The reopening of the Rafah border point between Egypt and the Gaza Strip could raise the question of the resumption of the European Union assistance mission EUBAM Rafah (about 300 Palestinians passed through each day at the reopening ). That "indeed weighs a lot in favor of a redeployment of EUBAM at the border“explains a good connoisseur of the file.But a redeployment depends first and foremost on the desire of the parties to the 2005 agreement(Palestinian Authority and Israel).

Restart conditions

For the European mission to restart, a new political context must be created on the Palestinian side: a Palestinian Union government, in place, allowing Hamas to officially enter the game and the EU to discuss with Hamas . The discussion is still blocked. Because, for the EU, there can be no dialogue as long as Hamas does not renounce violence, does not recognize Israel's right to exist, undertakes to respect all the agreements signed between the PLO and Israel. The release of the soldier (Franco Israeli) Gilad Shalit is also a point of tension.