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Israeli authorities are considering allowing a combined contingent of security-cleared Palestinian officials and the European Union Border Assistance Mission to Rafah | Photo: Bloomberg
Israeli officials are considering transferring control of Gaza’s Rafah border crossing to the European Union and Palestinians, according to people familiar with the matter.
Though Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has scorned the idea of Israel ceding control of the crossing, Israeli officials are in talks with the EU and US about the proposal, said the people. If enacted, it would foreshadow an end to the conflict between Israel and Hamas and enable more aid to get into the devastated Palestinian territory, said the people.
The negotiations underscore the EU’s renewed diplomatic efforts to relieve some pressure on Palestinian civilians and help stop the war. The bloc has for months called for a truce but had little influence over the Israeli government as it tries to destroy Hamas. Still, Brussels helped run the crossing before 2007, when Hamas took control.
Netanyahu has said that whatever Israel does, Hamas won’t be allowed to retake the border. His government also insists on Israel’s troops remaining in the vicinity of the crossing and along the Gaza-Egypt border.
The prime minister, who visited Rafah on Thursday, has previously clashed with his generals over the crossing, according to an Israeli official. They are more inclined than Netanyahu — who will have the final say — to reopen it, the official said.
The crossing linking Gaza and Egypt has become a key source of tension in recent months between Israel and Palestinian authorities, as well as the Egyptian government. It was the main route for aid going into Gaza before Israeli forces took it over from Hamas in early May, since when it’s been shut.
The US, United Nations and Arab states have urged Israel to reopen it to enable more supplies of food, fuel and medicine to get to Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
Israeli authorities are considering allowing a combined contingent of security-cleared Palestinian officials and the European Union Border Assistance Mission to Rafah, know as EUBAM, to have that role, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity so they could discuss the confidential plans.
It’s unclear how close the sides are to finalizing an agreement. Netanyahu’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, while the Israeli defense ministry declined to comment.
A spokesperson for the EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell Fontelles, said the bloc’s already made clear it wants EUBAM to return to the crossing, though only when necessary arrangements allow it.
For that to happen, fighting needs to stop and the issue of who governs Gaza must be solved, the spokesperson said.
Netanyahu’s due to meet US President Joe Biden in Washington next week and address Congress, in what will be his first trip outside of Israel since the war began in October.
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Israel has long complained about smuggling from Egypt into southern Gaza, including of weapons for Hamas. Since the war started, Netanyahu’s government has said it will take extra steps to eradicate smuggling and destroy the many tunnels running across the border.
It sees control of the Rafah crossing and having troops along the border with Egypt as crucial to achieving that.
Hamas, designated a terrorist organization by the US, started the conflict when its fighters swarmed from Gaza into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 hostage. Israel’s offensive of Gaza has killed more than 38,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry there.
First Published: Jul 18 2024 | 11:03 PM IST
