The Israeli Foreign Minister proposes transferring Gaza residents to an artificial island
Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz sparked controversy after taking advantage of a high-level meeting of European Union foreign ministers to promote a plan to build an artificial island off the coast of Gaza, Euronews reported.
The European Union ministerial meeting yesterday (Monday) aimed to discuss the humanitarian crisis sweeping the Gaza Strip and the possible first steps towards a peaceful solution to the long-term conflict between Israel and Palestine.
Borrell criticizes
European Union Foreign Minister Josep Borrell confirmed the matter after he had described the meeting as “extraordinary.” He said that Katz’s intervention during the meeting – where he offered an artificial island in the Mediterranean Sea near the coast of Gaza – had “nothing to do” with the Gaza issue.
Borrell expressed his belief to reporters after the meeting that the minister could have used his time better to worry about the situation in his country, or the rising death toll in Gaza.
Borrell said that Katz, who was recently appointed Israeli Foreign Minister, showed his European counterparts two video clips during the meeting, the first promoting the railway infrastructure project linking Gaza to the occupied Palestinian territory in the West Bank. The second proposal includes a proposal to build an artificial island in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Gaza, which would serve as a commercial center linking the Gaza Strip to the rest of the world.
The infrastructure project dates back to the time when Katz was Israeli Minister of Transport, and was first shown in a video clip in 2017, as “a response to a reality that is bad for the Palestinians and not good for Israel,” according to Reuters.
Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz (AP)
The Israeli Foreign Ministry clarifies
The Israeli Foreign Ministry denied that Katz had proposed temporarily transferring Gazans to an artificial island in the Mediterranean. The ministry said that Katz “never said anything like this, and there is no similar plan.”
The ministry noted that Katz proposed the idea of temporarily housing Gazans on an artificial island in the Mediterranean Sea during his presentation to his counterparts in the European Union.
According to the Foreign Ministry spokesman, Katz stated that it was possible to establish housing on the island as well, but he did not mention anything related to transferring Palestinians there.
But according to a diplomatic source who spoke to Oronews on condition of anonymity, Katz’s decision to present the initiative during discussions that focused on possible future peace negotiations left European Union ministers “confused.”
The diplomatic source added that Katz did not suggest the possibility of using the island to shelter Gaza residents, nor did he link the initiative to the so-called two-state solution.
But Burrell said the videos “have little, if any, relevance to the issue under discussion.”
This gathering comes just one day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state as part of the so-called two-state solution after the war, which has erupted since the October 7 attack on Israel, which was orchestrated by the Hamas movement that controls the Gaza Strip. .
A two-state solution, which would provide statehood for the Palestinians, is the overarching goal desired by the European Union and Western allies after the war.
On Monday, Borrell stressed his insistence that only a two-state solution can give Israelis and Palestinians the security guarantees they need. He also said that the European Union and the wider international community had a “moral obligation” to find and propose a solution.
This comes after he made controversial statements on Friday, in which he claimed that Netanyahu had been “personally boycotting” the two-state solution for the past three decades.
Borrell said that the foreign ministers representing the 27 member states of the European Union, who at times showed division in their response to the war between Israel and Hamas, were unanimous in their support for the two-state solution.
Borrell explained that “the member states informed him (Katz), of course, that they believe that the solution to a lasting peace that guarantees Israel’s security (…) comes through the establishment of a Palestinian state.”
He added: “This certainly did not make him change his mind, but we did not expect anything to the contrary.”
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2024-01-23 13:35:41
