EU plans leading role in building new police force for Gaza

The European Union is preparing to significantly expand its police and border-security missions in Gaza as part of efforts to support a US peace plan, according to information obtained by dpa.

EU foreign ministers are expected to agree in Brussels on Thursday on proposals for an enhanced EU role and, if necessary, adjust the mandates of existing missions, dpa has learned.

EU chief diplomat Kaja Kallas stressed the importance that Palestinians would be leading the process and take ownership of building a police force for Gaza but that the bloc would be ready to “help them with the training of policemen.”

Under the plan, the EU could use its West Bank–based police mission, Eupol Copps, to take the lead in building a new police force for the war-ravaged Gaza Strip and train around 3,000 Palestinian security officers in the medium term. In the long term, the goal is to train all 13,000 personnel expected to be needed.

In the short term, Eupol Copps would help rebuild judicial and security structures in Gaza and organize training programmes for Palestinian police instructors at a police academy in Jericho co-funded by Germany.

Until now, Gaza’s civilian police have operated under the control of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which fought a two-year long war with Israel that has left much of the territory in ruins from Israeli air strikes and a ground offensive.

The new force is expected to work closely with the planned international stabilization mission mandated in a UN Security Council resolution earlier this week.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said that France is ready to send roughly 100 French policemen to the Palestinian Territories to train local security forces.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul however said Palestinian policemen should “essentially be trained by neighbouring countries” after Jordan and Egypt have already declared their readiness to do so.

Expanded EU role at Gaza border crossings

EU ministers in Brussels are also discussing an expansion of the bloc’s border-monitoring mission for Gaza.

According to dpa information, the EU could in future assist with processing goods, not only at the Rafah crossing but also at points such as Kerem Shalom. As an initial step, the mission is expected to resume supporting the movement of people through Rafah once the crossing reopens.

France has been one of the strongest advocates for broader mandates. Barrot reiterated the importance of humanitarian aid for Gaza and said that France was ready to co-organise together with Egypt a conference on reconstruction and aid for Gaza until the end of the year.

Financial support for Ukraine

The latest developments in the war in Ukraine are also expected to feature highly in the talks on Thursday.

Ministers are expected to start with a discussion with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha on Kiev’s most pressing needs.

Efforts are under way in the EU to come up with additional long-term financial support, including possibly making frozen Russian state assets available to Ukraine.