To ask Her Majesty's Government who will decide whether the European Union Border Assistance Mission in Rafah can resume work at the crossing into Gaza; and what criteria will be used to make that decision. [HL2701]

The protocol establishing the EU Border Assistance Mission in Rafah forms part of the annex to the 2005 Access and Movement Agreement which was signed by Israel, the Palestinian Authority and the United States. In practice any decision to redeploy the mission at the crossing point would require the agreement of those three parties and would also require no objection to be raised by the Egyptian Government.

Given the current security situation in the Gaza strip and the ongoing control of the Palestinian side of the crossing by the Hamas authorities, we do not expect any such redeployment in the immediate future. Internally, the decision to reactivate the mission will be made at the EU Political and Security Committee (PSC) by 27 member states. The PSC's decision would depend on the Mission's evaluation of the security situation and the status of the Rafah Crossing Point facilities, including the Liaison Office in Kerem Shalom.