Palestinians leave Gaza under EU supervision on ‘one-way’ journey

Hundreds of Palestinians who have crossed with EU supervision from Gaza into Egypt through the Rafah border crossing in the past week are on a "one-way" journey, uncertain of their chances of ever returning, a European official has said.

The issue of return is highly sensitive for Palestinians amid renewed controversy caused by comments made by US President Donald Trump about expelling Gazans - a position supported by Israel and considered by most of the world to be in breach of international law.

Return is "not part of the deal at the moment," the EU official told reporters in Brussels. "Nobody goes back. We open the gate. Then there is only a one-way street. Those that go out, they are out of the Gaza strip," they said, speaking anonymously to discuss the sensitive topic more freely.

The right to return to their homeland is a demand deeply entrenched among Palestinians, 700,000 of whom were forced to flee during the 1948 Arab-Israel war that led to the foundation of Israel. But it is also firmly rejected by Israel. Its army chief of staff Herzi Halevi said last week that Gazans leaving through the Rafah border crossing would not be able to return.

Roughly 60 per cent of Gaza’s infrastructure has been destroyed after more than a year of war that has killed more than 47,500 Palestinians. The Israeli army launched its offensive after a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killed about 1,200 people. A fragile ceasefire came into effect on January 19.

'Honest broker'

The recent relaunch of the EU Border Assistance Mission (Eubam) in Rafah has enabled the evacuation of hundreds of sick and wounded Gazans to Egypt, although doctors say that thousands more need urgent treatment outside the enclave. They are allowed to travel with a limited number of relatives. "Eubam is seen by all parties as an honest broker," the EU official said.

The mission, which was launched in 2005 to train border personnel affiliated to the western-backed Palestinian Authority, was suspended two years later following Hamas's take-over of the strip. Its redeployment on January 31 is part of the EU's contribution to the continuing ceasefire, along with a recent humanitarian aid package for Gaza worth €120 million.

"Most of all, we build confidence with those at the border," the EU official said. The three parties involved include the Israeli army, Egypt, and the Palestinian Authority.

Facial recognition cameras

About 25 PA officials work on a rotating basis at the border, inspecting travellers and their luggage. Passage is negotiated in advance between Israel, Hamas and Egypt - a process in which the EU has no input. The PA border force, which consists of Gazans, works on the basis of lists of names provided by the parties and is supervised by six to eight Eubam Rafah employees of various EU nationalities.

The EU is the biggest donor to the PA, providing support for salaries and pensions in the West Bank. The bloc has been advocating for a return of PA administrators to the Gaza Strip, including through the stationing of some of its members at the Rafah border crossing point. They were chosen from those who stayed in Gaza post-2007.

About 20 gendarmes from Italy, Spain and France are deployed on the ground to oversee the mission's security. The Israeli army is not present in the crossing's immediate vicinity, although Gazans are screened through Israeli facial recognition cameras before arriving at Rafah border crossing.

So far, there have been no incidents. Only a handful of Gazans have been turned back, mostly due to clerical errors. "Everybody who is part of this conflict gains something out of it [the mission]. Nobody is excluded by this operation," added the official.

Israel seized the Rafah border crossing during the war and recently rebuilt it in a matter of weeks after it was reduced to rubble by the conflict.

The European mission appears set to continue throughout the coming stages of the ceasefire.

Ultimately, it will be upheld as long as there is a political will on the part of the EU's 27 member states, the EU official said.