On Monday 2 December, the European Union’s Special Representative for the Middle East Peace Process, Sven Koopmans, discussed the Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution, launched last September (see EUROPE 13492/4), with members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET). The EU delegations for relations with Israel and for relations with Palestine took part in the discussion.
Mr Koopmans began by returning to what he described as the “humanitarian apocalypse” underway in the Gaza Strip. “There is now a siege in northern Gaza, lasting for almost two months. That compounds the already dire humanitarian crisis”, he declared. And he added: “Food supplies are currently 6% below requirements”.
More than two million people have been displaced on several occasions, noted the EU Special Representative, deploring the famine, dehydration and disease that continue to affect the civilian population.
On the basis of this observation, Mr Koopmans stressed the need to focus on a “fundamental” and lasting peace, beyond a possible ceasefire agreement. “It is now time to address the root cause of all the suffering and that is the need for a two-state solution”, he pleaded, calling for the implementation of concrete commitments through the Global Alliance.
Following an initial meeting in Saudi Arabia on 30 and 31 October, the countries involved in this alliance met in Brussels on Thursday 28 November (see EUROPE 13534/19).
UN Conference. On Monday morning, a ministerial conference organised by the UN was held in Cairo with the aim of strengthening the humanitarian response in Gaza. In a speech delivered by his deputy, Amina Mohammed, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called on the international community to “lay the foundations for a lasting peace in Gaza and throughout the Middle East”.
According to the Egyptian Foreign Minister, delegations from Fatah and Hamas were in Cairo to “reach a mutual agreement” on the post-war management of the Gaza Strip, with a view to placing it “under the full control of the Palestinian Authority”, AFP reported. (Original version in French by Bernard Denuit)