BRUSSELS: More than 60 nations sent representatives to Brussels Monday for talks with Palestinian representatives on stability, security and long-term peace in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, as global attention largely remains focused in the Middle East on the ongoing crises in Iran and Lebanon.
There’s renewed momentum in the 27-nation European Union to put meaningful pressure on Israel over its military campaigns in the Middle East after the election defeat of Viktor Orban in Hungary, a staunch ally of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Hungary’s next leader, Peter Magyar, has already indicated he would act differently from Orban on Israel. The carnage in Lebanon and Iran, alongside the continued violence and misery in Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, is driving some leaders critical of Netanyahu, like Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, to push for decisive action.
The EU has been the biggest provider of aid to the Palestinians and is Israel’s top trading partner, but it has largely been relegated to the sidelines in the Middle East, with no role in negotiating the October ceasefire in Gaza that came into effect after two years of war. The EU backs a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and a majority of the bloc’s member countries recognise an independent Palestinian state.
Ongoing attacks by Israeli settlers in the West Bank and continued devastation in Gaza have dimmed the prospect for a two-state solution, said Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot ahead of the meeting on Monday. He is co-hosting the meeting with the EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas.
“We observe without naivety that the two-state solution is being made more difficult by the day,” Prevot said. “But Belgium and many European and Arab partners continue to believe that this remains the only realistic path to a lasting peace, for Israelis, for Palestinians and for the stability of the entire region.”
Nikolay Mladenov, the director of the Board of Peace created by United States President Donald Trump, and a well-known figure in Brussels, also attended the meeting.
AP