European Union Ready To Help Reconstruction And Recovery After Gaza's Armistice

JAKARTA - EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the bloc was ready to assist reconstruction and recovery, as well as in talks to revive a civilian mission monitoring the border crossing between Gaza (Palestinian) and Egypt in Rafah, following the announcement of a Hamas-Israel ceasefire agreement last Wednesday.

Kallas met with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa in Brussels, Belgium on Friday morning and spoke by telephone with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar.

The EU "is discussing the re-placement of our monitoring mission to Rafah to ensure stability at the border, so we have prepared it," Kallas told reporters in Brussels.

The EU's civilian mission to help monitor the Rafah crossing was formed under an agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority in 2005, as part of international aid for peace efforts at a time when Israel had withdrawn troops and settlers from Gaza.

But the mission only operated for a year and a half before it was suspended, when Hamas militants took control of the Gaza Strip and expelled the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority.

Kallas further said that re-employment would require invitations from Israel and the Palestinian Authority as well as cooperation agreements with Egypt.

He said the mission now has ten international staff and eight local staff on standby.

"We will also be ready to assist in reconstruction and recovery," he said.

Kallas also said the EU was committed to a two-state solution to the wider Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"Of course lasting peace means compromise on both sides," he said.

"I think there is an opportunity to prevent further loss of life with this ceasefire," Kallas concluded.