Italy says monitoring mission, which was halted when Hamas seized control of Strip in 2007, 'was launched at the request of Israel and the PA'

The 27-nation bloc set up a civilian mission in 2005 to help monitor the crossing, but it was suspended two years later after the militant Islamist group Hamas took control of Gaza.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union is in talks to revive a civilian mission to monitor the border crossing between Gaza and Egypt at Rafah following the announcement of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said.

The European Union is ready to redeploy its border assistance mission at the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, Kaja Kallas, the European Union's foreign affairs chief, said on Monday. The civilian mission was launched in 2005 to assist with trade facilitation and the processing of biometric passports but was suspended in 2007 when Hamas took