Biden officials are in talks with EU group to help reopen Rafah crossing
The Biden administration is in talks with a European Union organization to potentially help open and take control of the Rafah border crossing in Gaza amid Israel’s invasion of the city, according to a senior administration official and another person familiar with the matter.
U.S. officials have for weeks worked behind the scenes, brokering talks between Israel and Egypt, to strike a deal that would put the European organization in charge of the Rafah crossing and significantly improve the flow of aid into the enclave, the people said. The Rafah crossing has been closed since Israel’s invasion of the city May 7.
In the talks, Egyptian officials have said they want the Gazans who used to run the crossing to return. Israel has argued that those who previously manned the crossing included members of Hamas — and that a new group should take over. The stalemate has significantly slowed the amount of aid getting through to Gazans amid Israel’s invasion of Rafah, threatening the return of famine-like conditions.
The U.S. is proposing bringing in a neutral third party to take control of the crossing: the European Union Border Assistance Mission to the Rafah Crossing Point. The organization previously worked at the border in Gaza but suspended its operations in 2007 after Hamas took over Gaza.
The EU Border Assistance Mission didn’t respond to a request to comment on its conversations with the Biden administration. Representatives with the European Commission also did not respond.
Israeli officials have traveled to Cairo in recent days to discuss the opening of the Rafah crossing. If they agree on EUBAM — and the group signs on to the idea — the crossing could open in the next several weeks, according to another senior U.S. official.
The discussions come as tensions are increasing between Egypt and Israel over the Rafah invasion.
Before Israel’s invasion of Rafah, Cairo had for months warned Jerusalem against the operation, claiming the intense fighting on its border threatened its national security.
Israel pushed back, telling the Egyptians it had a comprehensive plan to evacuate hundreds of thousands of people west before it moved in. Israel moved forward with its invasion sooner than Egypt had anticipated, angering officials in Cairo, one of the U.S. officials said.
In the days that followed, Egypt refused to divert aid shipments from the country to the Kerem Shalom border crossing, significantly undercutting the ability of aid organizations to receive and distribute food and medical supplies inside Gaza.
Biden officials have scrambled in recent days to try and help get more aid into Gaza but the Kerem Shalom crossing is crowded with trucks from both private contractors and U.N.-associated aid groups and shipments are moving slowly. The drop-off in aid deliveries has made essential goods such as flour less available, spurring desperate Gazans to climb onto trucks and take packages before they’re distributed at aid sites.
The Biden administration has explored several options for helping reopen the Rafah crossing, including potentially asking private contractors to help. But many groups have worried about taking control of the crossing during Israel’s operations in Rafah.
