(AKI) - The European Union is ready to resume its monitoring mission at the Rafah border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, foreign policy chief Javier Solana said on Friday. According to the Palestinian news agency, Maan, Solana said the EU would participate in the operation of the crossing when it had received approval from all the relevant parties.
Solana spoke to the media during a visit to the Erez border crossing in the north of the coastal strip, Solana also expressed the European Union's support for the Palestinian reconciliation talks taking place in Egypt.
"We came to Gaza to express our solidarity with Gazans and to see what the recent Israeli war has caused in the Gaza Strip," he said.
| Solidarity with the Gazooks. Figures ... |
Under a 2005 agreement with Egypt, Israel, and the Palestinian Authority, the EU sent observers to monitor the operation of the Rafah crossing under Egyptian and Palestinian control. The Border Assistance Mission was suspended when Egypt and Israel decided to close the crossing in June 2007.
Solana's visit to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip was his first since Hamas took full control of the territory in 2007. He was not scheduled to meet any representatives of the Hamas-run de facto government. |