Training for thousands of police officers and better border protection: The EU doesn’t just want to support the US peace plan in the Gaza Strip with aid money. Germany should also take part in training.
The European Union plans to significantly expand its border protection and police missions on the ground to support the US peace plan in the Gaza Strip. As announced by the EU’s chief diplomat Kaja Kallas at a meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels, around 3,000 Palestinian security forces will in the initial stage be trained.
In the long term, according to news agency dpa, the aim is to train the 13,000 police officers estimated to be needed. An internal EU working paper talks about the EU’s leading role in police training.
In the short term, according to the plan, the police mission “Eupol Copps” will support the reconstruction of justice and security structures in the Gaza Strip and organize a training program for Palestinian police trainers at the police academy in Jericho financed by Germany, among others. Other steps could be taken following the expansion of the mission’s mandate. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot promised to provide around 100 gendarmerie troops for operations in the Palestinian territories.
Federal Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul initially did not provide any figures, but stressed that Germany was also ready to provide practical support. Recently, the Federal Republic only provided three experts for “Eupol Copps”. Civilian police in Gaza previously worked under the control of the terrorist organization Hamas. According to a recently passed UN Security Council resolution, the new police force must work closely with a planned international stabilization force.
EU use border crossing
According to dpa, an expansion of the European Union’s border protection operations in the Gaza Strip is also planned. In the future, support can also be provided to smooth goods traffic, not only at the Rafah crossing, but also at checkpoints such as Kerem Shalom. As a first step, it is planned that the border protection mission will again provide support to people crossing the border into and out of Gaza after the planned reopening of the Rafah crossing.
In the past, France has specifically campaigned for an expanded mandate. Foreign Minister Barrot recently told an EU meeting in Luxembourg that it was important to ensure that large amounts of humanitarian aid reached Gaza safely. The expansion of the “Eupol Copps” police mission could also support plans for the disarmament process of the Islamic militant Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Border protection mission has been around since 2005
The European Union Border Support Mission in Rafah (“Eubam Rafah”) was established in 2005 to help control the only border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. However, after the Islamist group Hamas came to power in the Gaza Strip in 2007, no EU personnel were on the border for a long time because the EU did not want to cooperate with Hamas.
The resumption of operations earlier this year had to be halted after a while because the fundamental agreement between Hamas and Israel to end the Gaza war could not be implemented. After a ceasefire was negotiated between Israel and Hamas, it is now scheduled to restart. Germany is currently providing four experts for the mission.
Support for reform and reconstruction
Apart from security in the Gaza Strip, population supply and reconstruction must also be supported. The European Union has accepted Egypt’s offer to jointly organize a reconstruction conference. A new donor group will also support the Palestinian Authority in carrying out reforms so that it can one day take over the government of the Gaza Strip.
US President Donald Trump’s peace plan, recently endorsed by the UN Security Council, stipulates, among other things, that the Gaza Strip will initially be managed as a transitional administration by a committee of non-political experts. This committee will consist of Palestinians and qualified international experts and will be supervised and monitored by a new international transitional body – the “Peace Council”, which Trump wants to lead.
