The participation in the Eubam Rafah mission would be right on the edge of the German principle of separation of military and police. However, there are not yet any concrete plans for a deployment, ‘nd’ has learnt.

A fortnight ago, the German cabinet gave the green light for the possible participation of Federal Police, state police and customs in the EU border operation at the Rafah crossing. Between Gaza and Egypt, two dozen ‘specialised teams’ from three EU states are securing the control activities of unarmed members of the Eubam Rafah mission. According to the German government, the aim is to ‘create a security architecture in the region that prevents Hamas from regaining control of the Gaza Strip’. However, there are no concrete plans for a deployment as yet, the Ministry of the Interior confirmed to ‘nd’.

As part of the operation, a few dozen Palestinian civilians will be able to leave for Egypt on foot or by ambulance every day – the focus is on the injured and those accompanying them. The crossing is open from 9 am to 3 pm for this purpose. Preliminary checks will be carried out by the Israeli military (IDF) and then by unarmed members of the Palestinian Authority (PA), who have agreed not to wear badges. Egypt is providing containers, water and other logistical resources. Israel and the PA have allowed the EU units to carry weapons, but their use is intended solely for self-defence.

The operation in Rafah could run right up against the limits of Germany’s ban on the separation of military and police forces. As can be seen from the mission’s operational plan available to ‘nd’, the command structures are interlinked with the IDF. For example, the mission members’ weapons are stored at an Israeli base at the Kerem Shalom border crossing a few kilometres away. The mission members travel there in armoured vehicles – probably also because Hamas has repeatedly attacked the Israeli facility in Kerem Shalom.

The actual deployment of the EU force takes place in a 60 metre long perimeter. A second ring around this facility is controlled by the PA and its surroundings by the IDF. Israel’s military has also installed undefined intelligence ‘reconnaissance and surveillance capabilities’ there. Eubam sends an officer to an Israeli Ministry of Defence situation centre to share security-related intelligence and coordinate operations.

With the EU mission in Rafah, which began in 2005, the EU wanted to assume a control function at the reopened border crossing as a neutral third party and enable the regular movement of goods and people to and from the Palestinian territory. The German Federal Police were also involved. However, Israel ordered its partial closure following the kidnapping of the Israeli soldier Shalit in June 2006. The mission was cancelled in 2007 after Hamas took over the government in the Gaza Strip.

The Eubam mission, which was relaunched at the end of January, is considered a ‘non-executive mission’. Nevertheless, it goes beyond the once envisaged ‘active monitoring of border clearance’ by the Palestinian authorities or ‘capacity building of the Palestinian authorities in the area of border management’. After all, the region is highly militarised following the extensive destruction of infrastructure caused by Israel’s war in Gaza, with an estimated 50,000 deaths.

This is probably why the EU mission has so far only been supported by the three most important European quasi-military police units: the Gendarmerie from France, the Guardia Civil from Spain and the Carabinieri from Italy. These are the founding states of the European Gendarmerie Force (EGF) from 2006, which was once planned as an EU organisation and was intended to ensure ‘security and order’ as part of EU or UN military missions.

However, Germany, among others, had spoken out against its establishment as an EU force due to its overly military profile; the EGF now operates as a multilateral organisation. It has now taken over the coordination of the Rafah mission, to which German police forces are also to be subordinated.

The Eubam mission in Rafah will initially run until 2 March; until then, the first stage of the agreement between Hamas, Egypt and Israel on the exchange of prisoners will apply. However, the External Action Service in Brussels is preparing for an extension. The EU mission could also become important if Israel, as announced, sets up a government agency to promote the ‘voluntary departure’ of Gaza Strip residents to third countries.

Published in German in „nd“.

Image: Heavily armed gendarmerie units from France, Spain and Italy at the Rafah crossing (Italian MoD).