Germany's interior and foreign ministries are in consultations about sending a German contingent to the European Union's civilian mission to monitor the border crossing between Gaza and Egypt at Rafah,

The German government plans to send border management experts to the Rafah crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, government sources have told dpa. To facilitate the deployment, Berlin plans to amend a 2005 Cabinet decision that previously allowed only unarmed personnel to be sent,

The EU’s top diplomat has said the civilian mission can play a “decisive role” in supporting the Gaza ceasefire. Euronews breaks down what we know about its mandate and operations. View on euronews

The European Union will restart a civilian mission to monitor the border crossing between Gaza and Egypt at Rafah, the bloc’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Monday.

Today, EU Foreign Ministers agreed to redeploy it to the Rafah Crossing Point between Gaza and Egypt. This will allow a number of injured individuals to leave Gaza and receive medical care.”The European Union Border Assistance Mission to Rafah was established in 2005 when Israel withdrew from Gaza during the Disengagement.

For the EU Border Assistance Mission in Rafah to effectively restart it needed a cessation of hostilities between terrorist organisation Hamas and Israel, which happened on 15 January when the two parties to the conflict signed a ceasefire, which then entered into force on 19 January.