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The European Union is helping provide security in the Palestinian territories through a tandem of advisory and monitoring missions, the EU Police Mission for the Palestinian Territories (EUPOL-COPPS) and the EU Border Assistance Mission for the Rafah Crossing Point (EU BAM). Both are responding to the new security situation created by Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza and parts of the northern West Bank in August-September 2005.

EUPOL-COPPS and EU BAM represent a significant upgrade of the EU contribution to the resolution of one of the world’s most deadly and vexing conflicts. They also bring the European Union into the sensitive world of Arab-Israeli tensions and an unstable security situation on the ground.

Background

On Dec. 18, 2003 Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced that Israel would withdraw Jewish settlers and troops from the occupied Palestinian territory of Gaza and from parts of the West Bank. While the partial Israeli pullout from Palestine had generally been welcomed, it also posed a new security challenge. When eventually completed in September 2005, it left the Palestinian Authority (PA) with full responsibility for providing security in Gaza and for operating the Rafah border crossing to Egypt. This proved a difficult task given that the PA – established by the Oslo peace accord in 1994 – has struggled since its inception to provide security for territories under its control. It frequently clashed with armed Palestinian militant groups and, occasionally, the Israeli army.

However, the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza also represented an important opportunity for the PA to prove that it could govern an independent Palestine in the future. Similarly, the Rafah border crossing acquired meaning beyond a simple point of passage. It represents the first and only land crossing from the Palestinian territories to the outside world, thus symbolically denting the sense of isolation among the Palestinian people. However, Rafah has also served in the past as channel for weapons and terrorists crossing from Egypt into the occupied territories. Prime Minister Sharon saw Palestinian control of Rafah as a potential security threat and initially sought to keep a degree of control over the flow of people and goods through the checkpoint, much to the resistance of the Palestinians. (In the end, Palestinian forces eventually gained control of the checkpoint, under EU supervision and with Israeli monitoring.)

From the day Prime Minister Sharon announced the Israeli withdrawal talks started on beefing up foreign assistance to the PA. On March 1, 2005 the Quartet (EU, Russia, United Nations and the United States) issued a statement calling on the international community to help “the Palestinian Authority prepare to assume control over areas from which Israel intends to withdraw.” When the last settlers left in September, worries about the PA’s ability to provide security for Gaza only grew, prompting Israel to delay loosening restrictions on the Palestinians’ freedom of movement. On Oct. 16, 2005 the Quartet Special Envoy James Wolfensohn sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan stating that “the Government of Israel, with its important security concerns, is loath to relinquish control, almost acting as though there has been no withdrawal, delaying making difficult decisions and preferring to take difficult matters back into slow-moving subcommittees”.

It became clear that in order for the Gaza withdrawal to succeed, the PA would need to improve security on territories under its control, and that it may need outside assistance. The EU was in many ways the logical choice – it is the largest donor to the Palestinians and it was already providing security expertise through the EU Co-ordination Office for Palestinian Police Support (EU COPPS) established in April 2005. In a letter from Oct. 25, 2005 the Palestinian Authority invited the European Union to strengthen its contribution by launching an assistance mission in Palestine.

Separately, Special Envoy James Wolfensohn sent a letter to the European Council on Nov. 2, 2005, requesting EU assistance with the border crossing in Rafah. This helped lay the ground for the Nov. 15, 2005 Agreement on Movement and Access, including the Agreed Principles for the Rafah Crossing, which officially designated the EU as independent third party meant to “to ensure that the PA complies with all applicable rules and regulations concerning the Rafah crossing point and the terms of this agreement”.

European Initiatives

EUPOL COPPS was created by EU Council Joint Action of Nov. 14, 2005. It builds on and expands the work of the previously established Coordinating Office for Palestinian Police Support, launched in April 2005 with four European police experts. EU COPPS supported the PA in taking responsibility for law and order; it also provided the PA with vehicles, personal protective gear, communication equipment, office equipment and infrastructure repairs. EUPOL COPPS expanded both the size and the scope of EU involvement. Assistance comes in the form of 33 unarmed personnel from EU member states (contributions from third countries are also invited). Their mandate is to advise and closely monitor the Palestinian Civil Police, to coordinate and facilitate EU and member state assistance, and to advise on police-related criminal justice elements. Funding for EUPOL COPPS, fixed at EUR 6.1 million for 2005-2006 comes from national budgets.

The mission began operations on Jan. 1, 2006 and has an initial duration of 3 years. The mission’s political control and strategic direction is carried out by the European Council’s Political and Security Committee (PSC), in which EU High Representative for CFSP Javier Solana gives guidance to the Head of the Mission, Jonathan McIvor, through the EU Special Representative for the Middle East Peace Process (MEPP), Ambassador Marc Otte.

EU BAM, the Rafah border assistance mission, was established by EU Council Joint Action (2005/889/CFSP) of Dec. 12, 2005. EU member states contribute through national donations. The mission began operations on Nov. 26, 2005 and has an initial duration of 12 months. Funding for this period has been set at EUR 7.6 million. EU BAM’s objectives as listed in the Dec. 12, 2005 Joint Action are to:

“monitor, verify and evaluate PA performance with regard to implementation of Agreed Principles for Rafah Crossing and act with authority to ensure that PA complies with relevant rules and regulations; contribute to PA capacity building in all aspects of border control and customs operation; and contribute to liaison between Palestinian, Israeli and Egyptian authorities regarding management of Rafah crossing".

Assistance comes in the form of 70 personnel drawn primarily from EU member states, who will oversee the work of the Palestinian border guards in Rafah. Under the November 2005 Agreed Principles the PA exercises sole control of the crossing on the Palestinian side. Israel, however, retains the right to monitor activity at the crossing through video cameras and to protest the entry of persons it considers objectionable (with the PA having the final say). The European monitors’ role is to ensure that proper procedures are followed and to advise both sides of any information in its possession pertaining to the people whose right to entry is being disputed. EU BAM also has the authority to order re-examination and re-assessment of luggage, vehicles or goods. While the request is being processed, the item in question is not allowed to leave the premises of the Rafah crossing.

Political control and strategic direction of the EU BAM mission is exercised by the European Council’s Political and Security Committee (PSC), in which EU High Representative for CFSP Javier Solana gives guidance to the Head of Mission, Major-General Pietro Pistlese, through the EU Special Representative for the Middle East Peace Process (MEPP), Ambassador Marc Otte.

Key issues in European Debates

Security of EU Personnel
Concerns remain about the security of EU in Gaza. The Palestinian security services have been struggling to control the growing wave of shootouts, kidnappings and armed attacks on government buildings. On Jan. 5, 2006 Palestinian policemen stormed the Rafah border crossing to protest the killing of one of their officers a day earlier, prompting a temporary shutdown and forcing the EU personnel to take refuge in a nearby Israeli military base.

Responsibility for the security of EU personnel rests with the PA and Egypt on their respective sides of the border. EU member states and Israel have also concluded an agreement to allow Israel to provide diplomatic protection for EU personnel out of Tel Aviv as long as situation on the ground remains unstable.

Definition of EU Mandate
Negotiations over the exact EU mandate proved tense and controversial. The final arrangement itself left room for conflict as evidenced by clash between the PA and Israel in December 2005.

The PA initially wanted to retain full authority over the Rafah border crossing. Israel supported a hands-on role by the EU as a way to guarantee some oversight over PA’s management of Rafah, which served in the past as a route for smuggling arms, explosives and contraband into Gaza. The Quartet maintained that the EU should have an “active monitoring” role and thus not take any direct decisions over the head of the PA.

Eventually, the Agreed Principles for the Rafah Crossing defined the exact procedure as follows:

The PA will notify the GoI(Government of Israel) 48 hours in advance of the crossing of a person in the excepted categories-diplomats, foreign investors, foreign representatives of recognized international organizations and humanitarian cases;
The GoI will respond within 24 hours with any objections and will include the reasons for objections;
The PA will notify the GoI of their decision within 24 hours and will include the reasons for their decision;
The 3rd party will ensure the proper procedures are followed and will advise both sides ofinformation in its possession pertaining to the people applying to cross under these exceptions.

Additionally, a liaison office led by the EU receives real-time video and data feed from Rafah.

The arrangement already led to one flare-up when in December 2005 Israel accused the PA and the EU of allowing known Hamas terrorists to cross from Egypt into Gaza. The controversy was blamed on discrepancies in blacklists held by Palestinian border guards and Israeli officials.

EU support for Israel´s Gaza Withdrawal undermining the Roadmap for Peace?
EU missions in Gaza failed to escape the polarization that characterized much of the debate in Europe on the Middle East conflict. Israeli withdrawal from Gaza occurred unilaterally, outside the EU-endorsed Road Map for Peace, and has prompted criticism in Europe as a potential threat to the long-term prospects for peace.

EU assistance to the PA in the wake of the Israeli withdrawal thus required careful diplomatic manoeuvring on the part of Javier Solana, the EU High Representative. He diffused the potential controversy about the EU missions by linking the Gaza pullout to the Road Map. In an opinion piece published in Israel in August 2005 Javier Solana endorsed the Gaza withdrawal writing that “if successful, it [disengagement] could revive the long-stalled peace process and enable a return to the negotiating track and the implementation of the road map plan”.

Nevertheless, some tension remains between EU leadership and the Israeli government. On Dec. 12 2005, Javier Solana persuaded EU Foreign Ministers not to endorse a report critical of Israel’s East Jerusalem policy. The report, later leaked to the press, stated that Israel’s policies “are reducing the possibility of reaching a final-status agreement on Jerusalem that any Palestinian could accept”.

Time Line

Jan. 5, 2006: Temporary closure of Rafah border crossing after Palestinian policemen storm crossing to protest killing of one of their officers a day earlier
Jan. 1, 2006: EUPOL COPPS begins operation
Dec. 20, 2005: Quartet Special Envoy, James Wolfensohn, latest Report on the Round of Talks with the PA and Israel
Dec. 12, 2005: European Council adoption of Joint Action establishing the EU Border Assistance Mission for the Rafah Crossing Point (EU BAM)
Nov. 30, 2005: UN Security Council Presidential Statement welcomes successful opening of the Rafah Crossing
Nov. 26, 2005: EU BAM begins operation
Nov. 22, 2005: Quartet endorsement of Agreement on Movement and Access with adoption of UN General Assembly Resolution A/RES/60/39
Nov. 15, 2005: Signature of Agreement on Movement and Access, including the Agreed Principles for the Rafah Crossing by Israel and the PA
Nov. 14, 2005: European Council adoption of Joint Action establishing the EU Police Mission for the Palestinian Territories (EUPOL-COPPS)
Nov. 2, 2005: Quartet Special Envoy, James Wolfensohn, sends letter to European Council requesting the EU consider playing a third party role
Oct. 16, 2005: Quartet Special Envoy, James Wolfensohn, sends letter to UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, stating including a report on his latest visit to the region from October 7-12 to the region, stating Israel is hindering the transfer of control to the PA
Sept. 12, 2005: End of Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and Northern West Bank
August 16, 2005: Beginning of Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and Northern West Bank
July 18, 2005: Adoption of European Council Conclusions reaffirming EU commitment and cooperation with the US Security Coordinator, and agreeing that EU support would take the form of two ESDP missions
May 18, 2005: Quartet Special Envoy, James Wolfensohn´s, first Report on the Round of Talks with the PA and Israel
May 9, 2005: Quartet Statement reiterating support for Quartet appointment of its Special Envoy for Gaza Disengagement, James Wolfensohn
April, 2005: Establishment of EU Coordinating Office for Palestinian Police Support (EU COPPS)
March 1, 2005: Quartet Statement expressing support for Quartet appointment of its Special Envoy for Gaza Disengagement, James Wolfensohn in April
Mid-January, 2005: Fact-finding mission dispatched to Rafah to assess situation on ground and judge necessary security arrangements
Oct. 25, 2004: Israeli Parliament adoption of plan for unilateral withdrawal from Gaza and Northern West Bank
June 15, 2004: Adoption of European Council Conclusions reaffirming EU readiness to support PA to take control of law and order
Dec. 18, 2003: Israeli Prime Minister Sharon first introduces proposal for plan for unilateral withdrawal from Gaza and Northern West Bank in speech at Fourth Herzliya Conference

Sources for further reading

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