LARA VILLALÓN Istanbul

Istanbul

Updated Friday, January 19, 2024-15:54

  • Davos Blinken links Israel's "security" to "a path toward the creation of a Palestinian state"

For weeks, leaders of Arab countries have been working on an initiative to ensure a lasting ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas, which will prevent a regional escalation of the conflict.

The plan establishes

a roadmap towards the "irreversible" recognition of a Palestinian state

, in exchange for offering regional security for Israel.

Senior officials who participated in the talks indicated that the initiative seeks first of all the cessation of hostilities in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, as well as the release of hostages kidnapped by Hamas, the

Financial Times

revealed .

The pact would include the normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel - which Tel Aviv hopes to be able to strengthen before the war - in exchange for the recognition of a Palestinian state.

Arab officials have discussed the plan with the governments of the European Union and the United States, to pave the way for the recognition of Palestine and facilitate its entry into full membership of the United Nations.

The agreement could benefit Benjamin Netanyahu's government in finding a solution to the war, in the face of growing international criticism to end its offensive in Gaza, which has already caused

more than 24,000 deaths

.

After three and a half months of war, 136 Israeli civilians and soldiers remain captured, while 25 others have died during the conflict in Gaza.

Israeli civil society has increased pressure on the Government, aware that each day that passes makes it more difficult to find those captured alive, since some of the hostages need medical treatment.

Tel Aviv had been in talks for more than a year with Washington and Riyadh to normalize its relations with Saudi Arabia, in an attempt to strengthen its diplomatic ties with Arab countries and achieve greater regional stability and security.

In exchange for this rapprochement, the United States had promised Saudi Arabia a security pact that contemplated allowing it to develop its nuclear capacity.

This week Saudi Prince

Faisal bin Farhan

signaled that he would "certainly" recognize Israel as part of a broader political agreement.

"We agree that regional peace includes peace for Israel, but that could only happen through peace for the Palestinians through a Palestinian state," he said at a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

For its part, Washington gave signals this week that it also considers the rapprochement between Riyadh and Tel Aviv as part of a post-war scenario.

"Our focus is and remains focused on moving towards greater integration and stability in the region," said US national security advisor Jake Sullivan.

In recent weeks, the United States has intensified its diplomatic efforts to move closer to ending the conflict in Gaza, as well as avoiding a further escalation of tensions on the border between Israel and Lebanon, and stopping attacks on the maritime trade route of the sea. Red.

The US Secretary of State,

Antony Blinken

, proposed last Wednesday that the solution to the war could consist of the creation of a Palestinian state "that gives the people what they want and works with Israel to be effective."

The Arab initiative has met with the refusal of Netanyahu, who indicated on Thursday that he opposes any plan that involves an immediate ceasefire or the possibility of recognizing a Palestinian state.

"Stopping the war without achieving our objectives will damage Israel's security for generations, it will create a message of weakness and the next massacre will be only a matter of time," the Israeli president said in a televised speech.

Netanyahu also sent

a direct message

to his allies in Washington.

"I tell this truth to our American friends and I also stopped the attempt to impose on us a reality that would harm Israel's security," he warned, alluding to the possible granting of sovereign Palestinian territory.

Following his words, Washington reiterated his position, arguing that "there is no way" to rebuild Gaza, provide lasting security in the territory and establish governance without the creation of a Palestinian state.