EU eyes helping disarm Hamas; bloc ministers to discuss dropping proposal for Israel sanctions

The EU is looking at providing funding and expertise to help disarm Hamas under US President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza, a document seen by AFP says.

The 27-nation bloc is discussing what role it can play after Europe was left on the sidelines as Trump sealed the first stage of a ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel.

According to Trump’s 20-point plan for Gaza, the next phases of the truce should include the disarmament of Hamas, the offer of amnesty to terror leaders who decommission their weapons and establishing the governance of post-war Gaza.

EU foreign ministers are set to discuss how the bloc might be involved in the peace process at a meeting on Monday.

In a document circulated today, the EU’s diplomatic arm says member states should “assess and explore ways to finance and provide expertise for disarmament.”

An EU diplomat says that any involvement would likely be limited to “technical support” and that Europe would not be involved in any sort of “intervention force.”

The document says that the EU, the largest international donor to Gaza, should focus on helping ramp up humanitarian aid deliveries to the region.

“The priority is to ensure the immediate delivery of aid at scale into and throughout Gaza in line with international humanitarian law,” it says.

The EU has said it is ready to redeploy a monitoring mission to the Rafah crossing point with Egypt when it opens and could help train a future police force in Gaza.

As the biggest international donor to the Palestinians, the EU is also expected to play a role in helping cover the cost of reconstruction.

But diplomats say they expect Middle East states to take the lead and the EU doesn’t want to rebuild Gaza if Israel could launch fresh offensives in the future.

“The EU should have a key role also in the recovery and reconstruction process,” the document says, pointing to a “Palestine Donor Group” Brussels is pushing to establish.

“The EU should maximize its leverage with a view to gaining more influence on the process through the variety of tools at its disposal.”

The EU has struggled to exert influence during the war in Gaza due to splits within the bloc between countries supporting Israel and those closer to the Palestinians.

Ministers on Monday will discuss whether to drop proposals for possible sanctions on Israel, including curbing trade ties, after the Trump ceasefire deal.

Israel is pushing for the measures to be dropped, but a raft of EU states argue they should be kept on the table to maintain pressure to secure the peace process.