On 12 May 2010, the Council adopted a joint action extending the mandate of the EU Border Assistance Mission for the Rafah Crossing Point for one more year, until 24 May 2011. This follows confirmation of agreement from the two Parties, the Government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
The Council of the EU had previously adopted three joint actions extending the mandate of the mission until 24 November 2008, 24 November 2009 and 24 May 2010 respectively.
In accordance with the Agreement on Movement and Access, signed by the Government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority in 2005 and the Agreed Principles for the Rafah Crossing, the presence of European monitors at the Rafah Crossing Point (RCP) was the unique way to ensure regular openings of the crossing and enabled nearly half a million people to cross the border in both directions.
Maintaining the EU Border Assistance Mission in theater, despite the suspension of its operations, expresses EU's commitment to the people of Gaza and its willingness to redeploy at short notice at RCP, should circumstances allow. In that purpose, the Mission retains a sufficient operational capability able to return to its monitoring tasks and operations, as soon as conditions allows.
