On 08 October 2018, Mr. Azzam Al Ahmad, Palestinian Authority official in charge of reconciliation talks, met with Mr. Guenther Freisleben, the Head of the European Union Border Assistance Mission, in his office in Ramallah to discuss the recent updates in the West Bank in general and in Gaza in particular.
The meeting came as an opportunity to reflect on the possible upcoming developments in the region and as part of the Mission's efforts to liaise between the Palestinian, Israeli and Egyptian authorities in relevance to border management at the Rafah Crossing Point (RCP).
The EUBAM Rafah mission was launched in 2005, after Israel’s disengagement from the Gaza Strip, to provide a third-party presence at RCP in order to contribute to the opening of the crossing point and to build confidence between the Government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority, in cooperation with the European Union's institution-building efforts.
Despite the suspension of operations at the RCP in June 2007, EUBAM has maintained its capacity to rapidly redeploy to the crossing point, once political and security conditions allow.
