Michael de Laine

Opening of the borders to Gaza is crucial, but no arms allowed

By Michael de Laine, Copenhagen, 4th February 2009

Opening of the borders to Gaza is crucial, says the Danish minister for foreign affairs, Per Stig Møller. There is a need for immediate full access for humanitarian aid and the reconstruction of Gaza needs to be started. But opening borders must not entail that the population of Gaza will once again be taken hostage by fighting initiated by Hamas and smuggled arms and explosives. A delegation of the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly will visit Gaza later this month to assess the needs of the civilian population.

Today and tomorrow, Denmark is hosting an expert meeting for a small number of countries with maritime expertise to discuss illicit arms trafficking into Gaza.

Organized in close cooperation with the American administration, the expert meeting will seek to map the challenges related to illicit arms trafficking to Gaza, including the political, juridical, diplomatic and technical aspects of potential international contributions to handle this challenge and prevent the flow of weapons.

Focus will be on the transit routes that the arms are following from their point of origin towards Gaza.

The participants in the meeting will be USA, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and Norway.

In addition it is expected that a number of observers will be participating.

“The expert meeting is a significant contribution to further the international community’s collected efforts to ensure a lasting ceasefire and to improve the situation for the populations in the area, including the suffering Palestinian population in Gaza,” said the Danish minister for foreign affairs, Per Stig Møller. “I am pleased that Denmark can contribute to this work by hosting this expert meeting regarding arms smuggling.”

Opening of the borders to Gaza is crucial, Møller said.

“There is a need for immediate full access for humanitarian aid and the reconstruction of Gaza needs to be started,” he said. “This has been clearly communicated to Israel by Denmark and the rest of the international community, and we will keep up the pressure on this issue. At the same time it is important to ensure that an opening of the borders does not entail that the population of Gaza once again risk to be taken hostage by fighting initiated by Hamas. A sustained opening of the borders to Gaza is therefore related to the efforts to prevent the smuggling of weapons.”

The minister noted that it is obvious that the international efforts to support the ceasefire and the reactivation of the peace process rely on the parties to live up to their obligations under the Road Map for Peace.

“The Palestinians need to be reconciled and the terror must end,” he said. “Israel must freeze the settlement activities and remove roadblocks. All must do their part to sustain the populations’ faith in the peace track.”

A delegation of the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly (EMPA) will go to Gaza on 23rd-24th February to assess the needs of the civilian population in an objective manner, said Hans-Gert Pöttering, the EMPA president, after chairing the meeting of the EMPA bureau last Thursday, when the decision to send the mission was taken.

Pöttering, who is also the president of the European Parliament, will head the delegation of parliamentarians from both sides of the Mediterranean.

The delegation will visit Gaza under the auspices of UNWRA, the United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East, and its members are also expected to meet high-ranking representatives of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA).

The assessment of humanitarian needs and the rebuilding of Gaza will be at the centre of the delegation’s fact finding mission to the region.

“Politically and ethically we are bound to not only believe in a peaceful and lasting peace solution for the Middle East, but to work towards it,” Pöttering said. “We have to help the people of Gaza by opening the borders, while preventing Hamas from arming again. We are in favour of peace and resolutely against terrorism.”

He added that the EMPA bureau has asked the Quartet (European Union, United Stated, United Kingdom and Russia) “to engage with determination in a peace process leading to a settlement under the auspices of the United Nations.” The bureau “strongly calls on all partners to support such an initiative without reservation,” he said.