The High Representative of the EU defended this Saturday that it is necessary to define the steps to achieve a two-state solution in the conflict between Israel and Palestine, or to talk about it is to repeat a “mantra as a way of to wash hands”.
“Talking about a two-state solution without defining the progressive steps to get there serves no purpose. This is the time. Perhaps it is a wake-up call for the international community to take this seriously,” said the High Representative of the European Union. Union (EU) Foreign Policy Josep Borrell during the opening session of the Manama Dialogue in Bahrain.
The Spanish politician declared that “the end [do conflito] it’s common knowledge, it’s the two-state solution,” but he hesitated to talk about it, not because he doesn’t believe in it or sees a different solution, but because the same thing has been said for 30 years and then “almost nothing has been done.”
Moreover, he warned that repeating the two-state solution without implementing it “gave tactical cover to the strategy of expanding settlements in the West Bank.”
“There are now four times as many settlers and the Palestinian territory has been reduced to an archipelago of small plots of land that are not connected to each other,” he said.
For Borrell, this situation “makes the two-state solution” that is so often preached much more difficult, arguing that both Europeans and Arabs have a special responsibility to become more involved in this solution and go further, beyond “that mantra that is repeated . over and over again as a way to wash your hands.”
The European High Representative stated that for this solution to become a reality, it is necessary to make clear the red lines that must not be crossed: there is no reoccupation of Palestinian territories, nor forced displacement of the Palestinian population.
For Borrell, there are not three Palestinian territories: Gaza Strip, West Bank and East Jerusalem.
“There is a Palestinian territory. Therefore, there will be no reduction of Gaza’s territory,” he said in his speech.
Faced with this scenario, Borrell declared that “Hamas can no longer control Gaza” and pointed to the Palestinian Authority as the “only” entity that can. After this Friday, he met again with the leaders of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah. .
He also recalled that he visited Gaza in 2008 and that it has been rebuilt four times since then.
“It’s not about rebuilding buildings. It is about building states,” he said, urging Arab countries to assume their political responsibilities, especially “those that have good relations with Israel.”
Borrell also claimed the “critical role” of Egypt and Jordan because of their ties and involvement with the Palestinian community.
Borrell concluded his speech by saying that “Israel deserves security and Palestinians deserve dignity” and reiterated that “one horror does not justify another horror,” referring to Israel’s offensive against the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 16,000 people in retaliation against the Hamas attack on Israeli territory. This attack, on October 7, caused more than 1,200 deaths.
“How many innocent lives do we have to lose before we understand this,” he asked.
This reflection by Borrell took place at the same time as the meeting between the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the President of Egypt, Abdelfatah al Sisi, which concluded with a common message in defense of the two-state solution as ‘political horizon’.
Both Von der Leyen and Borrell will travel to several countries in the Middle East this weekend to address the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip due to the war between Israel and Hamas.
On Sunday, Borrell will travel to Qatar to meet with that country’s emir and prime minister.
Source: DN
