Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
European Union foreign policy chief Josip Poreb said he will travel to Israel, Palestine, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Jordan this week to discuss humanitarian access and political issues with regional leaders. This came in a post published by the European official on the X website (formerly Twitter), and he confirmed it in the closing press conference of the meetings of the foreign ministers of the EU countries, which was held Monday in Brussels, in which he also said, “We need a political horizon that looks forward to a two-state solution. This can only be achieved.” Through dialogue
This tragic news, with its extremely high cost in terms of Israeli and Palestinian human civilization, came after the failure of the international community to find a solution to this conflict. Therefore, this disaster is an opportunity for everyone to understand that it is necessary to search for a solution that can only be based on building two states.
It is not just about rebuilding Gaza - and we have done that several times already - it is about a state for the Palestinians. This requires what is called “the next day,” even though the Arab countries do not want to talk about the next day, but rather they want to talk about today. It is clear at their meeting in Riyadh that we must ask someone like us to start working on creating peace.
I proposed to the foreign ministers a mental plan, a “framework,” that includes setting some conditions. There is something we must do in cooperation with the American administration, without a doubt.
I'll boil it down to three "yes" and "no".
Tuesday's "no's" are that there can be no forced displacement of the Palestinian people out of Gaza. There cannot be an expulsion of Palestinians to be welcomed in other countries. The second is that the area of Gaza cannot be reduced. In other words, there can be no reoccupation of the Gaza Strip by Israel. There is no territorial change or reduction of the territory of Gaza. No to IDF reoccupation of permanent status in Gaza. Nor will Hamas return to Gaza. The third is that Gaza cannot be separated from the Palestinian issue as a whole. The solution in Gaza must fall within the framework of the solution given to the entire Palestinian problem.
The three Yeses are trying to find the actors who must commit to finding solutions.
The first is that we believe that the Palestinian Authority should return to Gaza. I say one Palestinian Authority, not the Palestinian Authority. A Palestinian authority whose powers and legitimacy must be determined by the Security Council [United Nations].
But this authority must have strong support. This is the second yes. Yes to stronger participation of Arab countries in the search for a solution. I know that the Arab countries are telling us now that they do not want to talk about “the next day,” because they are focused on “today,” on the drama they are experiencing today. The strong commitment on the part of the Arab countries that do not do this could simply be financial. It cannot be merely paying the costs of physical reconstruction, but rather contributing politically to building the Palestinian state.
The third “yes” is a greater commitment by the European Union in the region, and in particular, in building the Palestinian state. We have been very absent from the solution to this problem that we have delegated to the United States. But Europe must now commit to more. You have to commit more because if a solution is not found now, we will live a cycle of violence that will continue from generation to generation, from funeral to funeral.
To contribute to this political dynamic, the day after tomorrow I will begin a visit to Israel, Palestine, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Jordan.