EU FOREIGN policy chief Catherine Ashton travels to the Middle East today for talks on a European policing role in the opening of border crossings into Gaza.
At issue in her discussions with Israeli leaders will be whether a trial EU mission can be deployed to police the opening of a crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip at Kerem Shalom, near the Egyptian border.
Baroness Ashton plans to visit Gaza tomorrow and will have meetings during her three-day visit with Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas, US mediator George Mitchell and international envoy Tony Blair.
Three years into the Gaza blockade, conditions in the territory controlled by Palestinian Islamists Hamas have been branded “inhumane” by international critics. A particular concern is to secure supplies of building materials to facilitate the reconstruction of infrastructure destroyed in the three-week Gaza war in 2008-2009.
Baroness Ashton will discuss whether an EU mission to Kerem Shalom, if successful in opening the crossing to people and goods, could be followed by an EU mission to oversee the opening of another crossing at Karni in east central Gaza.
“We’re actually waiting for an official request from Israel for assistance. For as long as there is no request we will do nothing. It all depends on a request from the Israelis,” said a diplomatic source in an EU member state.
The possibility of European inspections in Cyprus of ships bound for Gaza is also on the table, although a source close to Baroness Ashton believes agreement on that front would be difficult to achieve. “It’s not a runner,” said the source, citing likely Israeli opposition to such a development.
Any EU mission would operate under a UN mandate, said a source close the foreign policy chief. In advance of her departure, Baroness Ashton said the EU stood ready “to support the opening of the Gaza crossings for the traffic of goods to and from Gaza”.
Her position, however, is that an EU mission can proceed only as part of a wider process in which Israel agrees to lift the blockade altogether.
A diplomatic source said there would be reluctance on the European side to participate in a policing programme which did not have an ending of the blockade as its overall objective. This flows from concern that an EU mission could be construed as something that helped to prolong the blockade if there was no Israeli commitment to end it.
Asked whether there was any sign Israel was prepared to disengage totally from Gaza, a spokesman for the foreign policy chief said: “We have no knowledge of any such decision by the Israeli authorities.”
Baroness Ashton’s visit follows Israeli moves to ease the blockade by introducing a list of items banned from Gaza on security grounds. The objective was to relax the regime, which operated on the basis of a restricted list of “allowed” items.
This development came in the wake of international condemnation of Israel following the killing of nine civilians in a military raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla.
Although EU and Palestinian leaders have complained about a lack of progress since Israel introduced the banned list, the aim in the first instance of any trial EU mission at Kerem Shalom would be to advance the easing of the blockade.
“We have welcomed the announcements made by Israel following the flotilla incident and are now awaiting their implementation,” said Baroness Ashton.
She will report back to EU foreign ministers at their scheduled monthly meeting in Brussels on Monday week. It would fall to the ministers to decide whether to prepare any new mission.
“The EU has been calling for an urgent and fundamental change of policy regarding the closure of Gaza which can lead to a durable solution to the situation,” said the foreign policy chief.
She said the indirect “proximity” talks chaired by Mr Mitchell should continue “with a view to the resumption of direct negotiations which should lead to a final settlement and an end to the conflict”.
During the talks she will meet Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman and defence minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad.