US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, confirmed on Saturday that he met with a delegation from the Arab League and the Organization of the Islamic Conference from Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the Palestinian Authority to discuss efforts made to meet humanitarian needs in Gaza.
He said in a post on his account on the “X” platform: “We discussed our common goal of establishing a future Palestinian state alongside Israel.”
I met with an Arab League-OIC delegation from Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, and the Palestinian Authority to discuss efforts to meet Gaza’s humanitarian needs. We discussed our shared goal of establishing a future Palestinian state alongside Israel. pic.twitter.com/xvklpMJ6xo
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) December 9, 2023
On Friday, members of the ministerial committee assigned by the extraordinary joint Arab-Islamic summit, headed by Faisal bin Farhan bin, held an official session of discussions with Blinken, in Washington, DC.
The members of the ministerial committee called on the United States to “take the necessary measures to push Israel towards an immediate ceasefire,” according to the Saudi Press Agency.SPA“.
They renewed their call for the necessity of an immediate and complete ceasefire, ensuring the protection of civilians, as stipulated in international humanitarian law, stopping the humanitarian tragedy, which is deepening every hour in the Gaza Strip, and lifting all restrictions that hinder the entry of humanitarian aid into the Strip.
They stressed the importance of “creating a real political climate that leads to a two-state solution, and the embodiment of the State of Palestine along the lines of June 4, 1967, in accordance with the relevant international resolutions.”
They expressed their “rejection of dividing the Palestinian issue and discussing the future of the Gaza Strip in isolation from the Palestinian issue,” SPA reported.
“Multi-stage plan”.. How does the Biden team plan for the future of Gaza after the war?
Politico reported that officials from the administration of US President Joe Biden had spent weeks formulating a multi-stage plan for the future of the Gaza Strip after the war, ending with the Palestinian Authority eventually taking control of the Strip, while the Israeli Foreign Ministry refused to comment on these perceptions.
In a previous report, the website stated:Poltico“Officials in the administration of US President Joe Biden have spent weeks formulating a multi-stage plan for the future of the Gaza Strip after the war, ending with the Palestinian Authority eventually taking control of the Strip, while the Israeli Foreign Ministry refused to comment on those perceptions.
According to Politico, the broad vision that emerged from the internal talks is to rebuild Gaza in multiple stages once the violent fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas ends.
An international force will be needed to stabilize the region in the immediate aftermath, followed by a renewed Palestinian Authority that takes power in the long term.
Key parts of the plan include increasing security-related assistance provided by the State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs to the Palestinian Authority and allowing a greater role for the U.S. Security Coordinator, who has a long track record of advising Palestinian security forces, the officials said.
“Ultimately, we want to have a Palestinian security structure in Gaza after the conflict,” a senior Biden administration official said.
Officials confirmed that the proposed plan is “nascent ideas and is subject to many unpredictable variables,” while a spokesman for the White House National Security Council declined to comment.
According to Politico, any strategy proposed by the United States will face several obstacles, including Israeli suspicions and Arab frustration, although regional players and analysts generally agree that Washington will need to play a decisive role in the post-war phase.
Perhaps the most difficult immediate challenge is knowing who will play a role in achieving stability in Gaza in the transitional period following the fighting.
An American official said, “While the Arab countries seemed hesitant or completely unwilling to send forces to Gaza, some in recent talks seemed more open to the idea.”
The Biden administration has ruled out sending American forces, and one of the ideas that has been circulated is to ask the UAE to help rebuild health facilities or train civil servants.
The American official said, “The United Nations can play a role in Gaza in the post-war phase, at least on the humanitarian front.”
Neighboring Egypt is likely to play a major role in post-war Gaza, and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s proposal that the future Palestinian state be “demilitarized with a temporary international security presence” has been echoed in Biden administration circles, according to Politico.
Speaking to Al-Hurra website at the time, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Lior Hayat refused to talk about a specific practical vision that Israel would accept for the future of Gaza.
Hayat told Al-Hurra website: “No one can talk about that now,” adding, “This is not the right time to talk about what will happen later, and we are still fighting Hamas and trying to release the hostages.”
A “demilitarized” Palestinian state.. What does it mean and what is the possibility of its implementation?
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi’s talk about a “future demilitarized Palestinian state” raised questions about the meaning of this concept, and the extent to which Israel and the Palestinian Authority accept the “proposal,” while officials and specialists reveal to Al-Hurra website the extent to which this can be implemented on the ground.
The war broke out between Israel and Hamas after a surprise attack launched by the movement on military sites and residential areas adjacent to the Gaza Strip, which led to the killing of 1,200 people, most of them civilians, including women and children, and 239 people were kidnapped, according to the Israeli authorities.
Israel responded with intense air, sea, and ground bombardment on the besieged Gaza Strip, followed by a ground operation, which temporarily stopped with the start of the truce, before its collapse.
17,487 people were killed in Gaza, about 70 percent of them women and children, with thousands more missing, according to what Hamas authorities announced on Friday.
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2023-12-09 05:41:01
