Borrell: The idea of Hamas cannot be killed, but an alternative must be provided (Anatolia)
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Sunday that the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) cannot be eliminated because it is an "idea," stressing that the conditions in "the West Bank are the real obstacle to the two-state solution."
Borrell added - during his speech at the Munich Security Conference - that the only alternative is to make Israel and Palestine live side by side in peace, and that this will not be achieved by military means alone.
The European official stressed that the situation in the West Bank occupied by Israel constitutes a major obstacle to reaching a sustainable solution that establishes peace between Israel and the Palestinians, saying, "The West Bank is witnessing boiling... We may be on the verge of a bigger explosion."
Borrell explained that the European Union must "support the Arab initiative" which stipulates the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, pointing out, "We must end the war in Gaza, but no one talked much about the West Bank."
Borrell's statements come in the wake of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's rejection of a plan for international recognition of a Palestinian state, reports of such an initiative reported by the Washington Post, and talk - according to the American newspaper - that the administration of President Joe Biden and a small group of Arab countries are working to "prepare a comprehensive plan for sustainable peace between... Israel and the Palestinians.
For his part, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Al-Safadi denied that the presence of Hamas was the problem in the Middle East.
Speaking at a discussion session during the Munich Security Conference, the Jordanian minister stressed that the only problem in the region is the existence of an occupation that must end in the Palestinian territories. And there is no prospect of ending the occupation.
In turn, Palestinian Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh stressed that the Palestinian Authority does not have a “partner” with whom it can engage in dialogue in Israel.
Shtayyeh said - speaking at the Munich conference - “We must move from talking about two states to establishing two states.”
Palestinian presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina also said that Jerusalem and Palestine hold the key to the solution, and they shape the future and stability of the region.
Abu Rudeina stressed that without the State of Palestine obtaining full membership in the United Nations and embodying its independence on Palestinian land with East Jerusalem as its capital, the region will remain on fire, in constant conflict and endless wars.
Abu Rudeina added that the war of extermination against the people of the Gaza Strip, the daily incursions into the West Bank, the policy of killing and execution, settler terrorism, the attempts to liquidate the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), and the imposition of restrictions on those praying during the month of Ramadan, are all failed Israeli attempts to prevent... It brings nothing but destruction, violence and instability.
Source: Al Jazeera + agencies