Arab states, EU agree on need for 2-state solution
Without a Palestinian state, there will be “no peace or security for Israel,” the EU foreign policy chief said on Monday. Josep Borrell made the remarks in Barcelona for the eighth ministerial forum of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), which began on Monday, and is being attended by representatives from around 40 nations to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and lay the groundwork for future peace, Anadolu Agency reports.
Speaking at the forum, Borrell said: “In the history of the most serious conflicts, there is always a moment when the darkness of the situation can only lead to a horizon of peace. I am convinced that beyond the shocks and emotions, that both peoples are committed to peace.”
“(Palestinian group) Hamas is more than just an organization … it is an idea, an ideology. And you cannot kill an idea unless you can prove that you have a better one. To defeat the ideology of Hamas, Palestinians need a credible political prospect for statehood,” said Borrell.
“Because both have equal and legitimate rights to the land, they will have to share (the land). We need to help them agree on that. Alone, they will not be able to,” he said.
The top EU diplomat also said that he was “appalled” to learn that the Israeli government plans to commit new funds to build new illegal settlements. He called such settlements “Israel’s greatest security liability” and a grave breach of international law.
International law views both the West Bank and East Jerusalem as occupied territories and considers all Jewish settlement-building activity there illegal.
