BRUSSELS, 5 November 2005 — Top European Union officials meet their Israeli and Palestinian counterparts this weekend to discuss Israel’s request for the deployment of EU monitors on the border between Gaza and Egypt.

European Union diplomats said the bloc’s special envoy to the Middle East Marc Otte and Christian Leffler, European Commission director for the region, would be meeting Israel’s Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres tomorrow to seek further details of Israel’s request.

“We need to know what their expectations are and then report to EU foreign ministers,” an EU diplomat told reporters.

EU foreign ministers will be meeting in Brussels on Nov. 7 to discuss these and other foreign policy issues.

Israel’s Security Cabinet earlier this week approved the deployment of European inspectors on the Gaza-Egypt border, a breakthrough expected to give Palestinians some freedom of movement without Israeli controls for the first time in decades.

The EU inspectors are expected to be stationed at the Rafah terminal on the Gaza-Egypt border.

The Palestinian Authority, which supports the idea of EU border monitors, has said it wants the Rafah crossing to reopen on Nov. 15.

An EU diplomat told DPA, the bloc’s governments would “no doubt be able to respond positively” to the request.

The EU was being asked to play a “pro-active security role” with regards to monitoring the border, she said, adding: “This represents a very active stepping up of our security presence in the Middle East.”

If agreed, this will be the first time that the EU will deploy border monitors in any part of the world.

Further discussions on the issue are expected between EU and Israeli and Palestinian officials.

EU foreign ministers on Monday are also expected to approve the launch of an advisory and mentoring mission for Palestinian police forces.

The operation, part of the European Union’s security and defense policy, will provide for the deployment of 30 to 50 European police officials who will advise the Palestinian Authority on security and policing issues.

The EU police officials will work within the departments of the Palestinian Authority. “You will not see European policemen patrolling the streets of the Palestinian territories,” the diplomat said.

Meanwhile, Israeli troops were on heightened alert yesterday on the Lebanese border, stepping up patrols amid fears of attacks from Hezbollah, a military source said.

Surveillance has been increased along the international border and the cease-fire line in the disputed Shebaa Farms area, where the Lebanese, Israeli and Syrian borders converge.

The army believes there is a heightened risk of attempts to kidnap soldiers or fire against its positions, the source said.

Travel without approval has been prohibited. Soldiers whose services are not essential to the area have been sent home, public radio said.

A senior military official warned yesterday that Israel would hold Lebanon responsible for any deterioration on the border.

On Thursday, Lebanese police said Israeli troops and Hezbollah militiamen had traded fire across the border, but Israel flatly denied the report.

A Hezbollah official also denied his organization had engaged in any “military operation in this sector”.

Israel captured the small mountainous Shebaa Farms from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war and is now claimed by Lebanon with Damascus’ approval.

Hezbollah was largely responsible for driving Israeli troops from southern Lebanon in 2000 after a 22-year occupation.

A UN resolution passed last year calls for all militias in Lebanon to be disarmed in order to ensure national sovereignty.