Last update - 00:00 05/10/2006
Officials: EU could pull observer mission if Rafah stays closed
By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent
America and European representatives have warned Israel that European states may opt to pull their monitors out of the Rafah border crossing
between the Gaza Strip and Egypt unless Israel agrees to keep it open.
Lieutenant General Keith Dayton, the U.S. security coordinator in the region, and Italian Brigadier General Pietro Pistolese, the European Union's chief monitor at Rafah, gave the warning to Defense Minister Amir Peretz prior to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's arrival in the region. On Rice's last visit to Israel and the Palestinian Authority, in November, she pressured the sides into signing the agreement that opened the crossing.
In a September 29 missive to Peretz - a copy of which was obtained by Haaretz - the two wrote that the Rafah crossing has largely been closed since the June 25 "unfortunate event" (their term for the kidnapping of Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit by Hamas). They added that the closure's negative impact could be far more extensive than the suffering of Palestinian travelers stuck on either side of the c rossing.
After receiving the letter, Peretz ordered the crossing opened for two days this week.
According to Dayton and Pistolese, the monitoring team has completed nine months of its one-year tour, which could be extended by six months. But if Israel does not fulfill its obligations under the agreement, including keeping the crossing open, they believe that it will be difficult to convince some EU countries to extend the mission.
The two also noted that they have drafted a new security plan for the Karni crossing between Gaza and Israel, including upgraded Palestinian security procedures at the site, improved facilities and an additional European monitoring team. "Our presence at Karni is very important. We feel the closure of the Rafah crossing will have a direct negative impact on the Karni arrangement," they wrote.
Dayton and Pistolese included a monitoring team report that contained a positive review of the PA's performance at Rafah until its late June closure. The crossing, they said, does not constitute a security risk; the security procedures are good and meet international standards, and most Palestinian officers and officials serving there demonstrated a real desire to improve their performance.
Israeli security sources disagree with this conclusion, claiming that the Rafah arrangement is still problematic despite various Israeli-instigated amendments, and that terror groups exploit the loopholes to smuggle in wanted men.