France calls for expansion of EU missions for Gaza

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot called on Monday for a significant expansion of the mandate for the European Union border protection mission in the Gaza Strip.

"I propose that we strengthen this mission so that it can play its full part," Barrot said, as he arrived at a meeting with his EU counterparts in Luxembourg.

The aim was "to not only ensure the safe passage of people, but also of goods that must arrive in large quantities in Gaza to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people," he said.

The French minister also made it clear that he considers it necessary to expand the EU's mission to support the Palestinian civil police, called EUPOL COPPS.

This mission should extend its activities, which have so far been concentrated in the West Bank, to Gaza and neighbouring countries in order to train Palestinian police forces there.

This could also support the planned process of disarming Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Barrot said.

The EU Border Assistance Mission in Rafah (EUBAM Rafah) was set up in 2005 to help monitor the crossing in Rafah in the south of Gaza, on the border with Egypt.

However, after Hamas took power in the Gaza Strip in 2007, there were no EU personnel at the border crossing for a long stretch because the EU did not want to cooperate with a group it lists as a terrorist organization.

Following the negotiation of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the mission is now set to resume once the Rafah crossing reopens.

German Minister of State for Europe Gunther Krichbaum said that the government in Berlin was open to proposals for expanding its involvement. Germany is currently providing four experts for the mission.

"The important thing now in the region is that we succeed in securing this ceasefire," Krichbaum said.

Monday's gathering has been the first meeting of EU foreign ministers since a ceasefire entered into effect in the Gaza Strip on October 10.

The EU has been sidelined in the efforts to end the fighting between the Palestinian Islamist organization Hamas and Israel, but senior officials have stressed that the bloc still aims to take an active role in securing stability in the region.

EU countries, however, have struggled to agree on a common stance toward the war, with a proposal to impose tariffs on Israeli imports — intended