The Minister of Foreign Affairs, João Gomes Cravinho, defended this Friday that the “Portuguese and European Union position is very clear”: the Palestinians “must be able to stay in Gaza.”
Gomes Cravinho concluded a visit to the West Bank this Friday, where he was in contact with the Prime Minister and the Palestinian Minister of Foreign Affairs.
In this meeting, the Portuguese leader guarantees, in statements to RTP, that he sent “a message of solidarity”, since “many innocent Palestinian lives were lost.”
With a “reinforced feeling of the urgency of the moment”, João Gomes Cravinho highlights that, “despite the tragic circumstances”, today there is a “very strong international convergence” around an idea.
“Now it is necessary that we mobilize all efforts to reach the necessary end point: the two-state solution,” he says, ensuring that the world now has “a unique opportunity” to recognize the two independent states: Israel and Palestine.
In this regard, the head of Foreign Affairs also stated that the Palestinian prime minister revealed “concern” about feeling “Israeli pressure” for the Palestinians to leave the Gaza Strip.
For Gomes Cravinho, this is a “very important issue, which will have a great impact in the future” and guarantees that “the position of Portugal and the European Union is very clear.”
“The population must stay in Gaza, they must be able to stay in Gaza, from the beginning all the humanitarian aid they need and at this moment it must not be used for any transfer of the population,” he argues.
The President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, admitted this Friday the possibility of Spain unilaterally recognizing the Palestinian State, outside the European Union and other member states of the community bloc.
Belgium’s Prime Minister also stated that all hostages held by Hamas must be released and that Israel must stop killing civilians.
Asked about the fact that Israel has already contacted the ambassadors of Spain and Belgium after these statements and about the possibility that Israel does not understand the message that the European Union could send, with the recognition of the two States, Gomes Cravinho states that “I don’t know the situation regarding the ambassadors.”
Even so, the MNE highlights that its availability to make “any clarification” with its Israeli counterpart was “very clear” in their dialogue, “both in the most political and private aspects.”
“We need to continue our dialogue and insist on what we consider the only possible path: which is the political and diplomatic path,” he says.
Source: TSF
