MADRID:
Foreign ministers from several Muslim and European countries will meet in Madrid on Friday to discuss how to implement a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the governments of Spain and Norway announced.
Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares will chair the meeting, which will be attended by his European counterparts, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and members of the Arab-Islamic Contact Group for Gaza.
The two-state solution presented at the Madrid Conference of 1991 and the Oslo Accords of 1993 to 1995 has long been seen by the international community as the best way to resolve a decades-long conflict, but the process of peace has been moribund for years.
However, the 11-month-old war in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Hamas – the bloodiest episode of the entire conflict – as well as the escalation of violence in the occupied West Bank have made the search for an even more urgent peaceful solution.
On May 28, Spain, Norway and Ireland officially recognized a unified Palestinian state led by the Palestinian Authority, comprising the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, with East Jerusalem as its capital. With them, 146 of the 193 member states of the United Nations now recognize Palestinian statehood.
Albares hosted a diplomatic meeting with the Gaza Contact Group on May 29, during which participants discussed next steps toward actively implementing the two-state solution.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has repeatedly described the coexistence of two sovereign states on the territory of former Mandatory Palestine as the only viable path to peace in the region.
The West Bank, including East Jerusalem, was captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East War and has been occupied ever since, with the expansion of Jewish settlements complicating the situation. Israel annexed East Jerusalem in 1980, a move not generally recognized internationally.
Israel also says that guarantees regarding its security are of paramount importance.
In an interview with Reuters, Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa would attend the meeting in Madrid.
The issues to be resolved, Barth Eide said, include “the effective creation of the Palestinian state or a very credible path to achieve it” and the strengthening of Palestinian institutions.
They also included the demobilization of Hamas – which controlled Gaza before the war – “so that it ceases its activity as a military actor”.
The normalization of relations between Israel and some other states, notably Saudi Arabia, is also important for Israel, he added.
The Gaza Contact Group – an initiative of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation – includes countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey.