The Middle East Quartet released its first-ever report on the Arab-Israeli peac process, calling both sides to work for a two-State solution
by Emanuele Bonini
The Middle East Quartet called Israel to allow the creation of a Palestinian State, in its ever realised report on the Arab-Israeli conflict released today. Three main areas of «concern» have been highlighted by the EU, the United Nations, the Russian federation and the United States. In each of these areas there are not progress. On the contrary the international forum denounced «no movement forward», as admitted by EU sources. According to the report «continuing violence, terrorist attacks against civilians, and incitement to violence are greatly exacerbating mistrust and are fundamentally incompatible with a peaceful resolution». Secondly, «the continuing policy of settlement construction and expansion, designation of land for exclusive Israeli use, and denial of Palestinian development is steadily eroding the viability of the two-state solution». And thirdly, the Middle East Quartet stressed that «the illicit arms build-up and militant activity, continuing absence of Palestinian unity, and dire humanitarian situation in Gaza feed instability and ultimately impede efforts to achieve a negotiated solution». The international community pointed out «the urgent need for affirmative steps to reverse each of these trends in order to prevent entrenching a one-state reality of perpetual occupation and conflict that is incompatible with realizing the national aspirations of both peoples».
«We don’t want to blame anybody in this report», assured officials of the European side. The only purpose of the document was and remain the necessity of saying «what we see every day is something that cannot work». The key issue, was explained by the same sources, «is about empowering the Palestinians, particularly in the West Bank, in Area C, without touching key Israeli security concerns». In fact the recommendation contained in the report call the Israeli government to move in such a direction, asking to «cease the policy of settlement construction and expansion» (recommendation 4), «transfer powers and responsibilities in Area C, consistent with the transition to greater Palestinian civil authority» (recommendation 5), and to «accelerate the lifting of movement and access restrictions to and from Gaza» (recommendation 8). It is basically reaffirmed the working in order to achieve a the two-state solution. Given the fact Israel already exists and is recognised by the whole international community, the same has to be done for the Palestinian side.
The report from the Middle East Quartet will not be welcomed in Israel, having a more pro-Palestinian approach. «How can we talk about a two-State solution when only one country is recognised», asked president of the president of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) in his latest official visit in Brussels. Mahmoud Abbas asked the European Union to grant Palestine the status of a sovereign country. «If you believe in the two-state solution, it is necessary to recognize both states, and not just one of them», stated Abbas the 23rd of June during is intervention at the European Parliament. The main purpose of the Quartet is to go straight forward to that direction, relaunching a peace-process which lost its momentum. There are no expectations about positive reactions from Israel, but for the first time the Quartet as a whole wanted to put pressure especially on the Israeli side. European role was crucial in this sense, assured in Brussels. The High Representative of the European Union for foreign affairs and security policy, Federica Mogherini, has always considered the Quartet a tool to use in order to write the word "end" to the never-ending Arab-Israeli issue.
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| Quartet components flags |
The Middle East Quartet called Israel to allow the creation of a Palestinian State, in its ever realised report on the Arab-Israeli conflict released today. Three main areas of «concern» have been highlighted by the EU, the United Nations, the Russian federation and the United States. In each of these areas there are not progress. On the contrary the international forum denounced «no movement forward», as admitted by EU sources. According to the report «continuing violence, terrorist attacks against civilians, and incitement to violence are greatly exacerbating mistrust and are fundamentally incompatible with a peaceful resolution». Secondly, «the continuing policy of settlement construction and expansion, designation of land for exclusive Israeli use, and denial of Palestinian development is steadily eroding the viability of the two-state solution». And thirdly, the Middle East Quartet stressed that «the illicit arms build-up and militant activity, continuing absence of Palestinian unity, and dire humanitarian situation in Gaza feed instability and ultimately impede efforts to achieve a negotiated solution». The international community pointed out «the urgent need for affirmative steps to reverse each of these trends in order to prevent entrenching a one-state reality of perpetual occupation and conflict that is incompatible with realizing the national aspirations of both peoples».
«We don’t want to blame anybody in this report», assured officials of the European side. The only purpose of the document was and remain the necessity of saying «what we see every day is something that cannot work». The key issue, was explained by the same sources, «is about empowering the Palestinians, particularly in the West Bank, in Area C, without touching key Israeli security concerns». In fact the recommendation contained in the report call the Israeli government to move in such a direction, asking to «cease the policy of settlement construction and expansion» (recommendation 4), «transfer powers and responsibilities in Area C, consistent with the transition to greater Palestinian civil authority» (recommendation 5), and to «accelerate the lifting of movement and access restrictions to and from Gaza» (recommendation 8). It is basically reaffirmed the working in order to achieve a the two-state solution. Given the fact Israel already exists and is recognised by the whole international community, the same has to be done for the Palestinian side.
The report from the Middle East Quartet will not be welcomed in Israel, having a more pro-Palestinian approach. «How can we talk about a two-State solution when only one country is recognised», asked president of the president of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) in his latest official visit in Brussels. Mahmoud Abbas asked the European Union to grant Palestine the status of a sovereign country. «If you believe in the two-state solution, it is necessary to recognize both states, and not just one of them», stated Abbas the 23rd of June during is intervention at the European Parliament. The main purpose of the Quartet is to go straight forward to that direction, relaunching a peace-process which lost its momentum. There are no expectations about positive reactions from Israel, but for the first time the Quartet as a whole wanted to put pressure especially on the Israeli side. European role was crucial in this sense, assured in Brussels. The High Representative of the European Union for foreign affairs and security policy, Federica Mogherini, has always considered the Quartet a tool to use in order to write the word "end" to the never-ending Arab-Israeli issue.
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