ESDP : EU PREPARES FOR ANY EVENTUALITY IN GAZA MISSION.

The ambassadors representing member states on the Political and Security Committee (PSC) will meet on 9 January, with the Middle East and the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza once more on the agenda. An initial meeting took place on 7 January, allowing them to size up the situation and the possibilities of European action in the region. It is a question of having a discussion on the possibilities of European action, from all points of view: diplomatic, humanitarian and security. All plans mentioned to resolve the crisis include an element of international presence. "For the moment, it is not a question of defining a specific action but of being ready to be able to respond extremely quickly to any request," specifies a diplomat.

The Mubarak-Sarkozy plan, developed by Egypt and France with the aid of Javier Solana, the EU's high representative, sets out the deployment of a force responsible not only to monitor the border between Gaza and Egypt (the so-called Philadelphia Corridor). It is particularly a question of preventing any illegal crossing through the use of secret tunnels. This plan was rejected by Hamas and Israel - at least for the moment. However, several EU member states are ready to support it. Denmark and the Netherlands therefore formally proposed to the Czech EU Presidency, on 7 January, to send a "police force" to the border between Egypt and Gaza to carry out controls. Belgium has had another - more humanitarian - initiative: "the repatriation of injured children following the current military operations in the...