2024-01-23T14:41:06+00:00
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/ Five Arab countries are working on a plan that would end the war in Gaza and pave the way towards implementing the two-state solution, which Israel rejects, according to what the Wall Israel Journal quoted Arab officials as saying.
This proposal, which was submitted to Israel via the United States, is the first joint plan by Arab countries to end the war in the besieged Strip.
In return, Saudi Arabia, one of the Arab countries that came up with the proposal, is offering to establish relations with Israel in exchange for the establishment of a Palestinian state, a process that was derailed, according to the newspaper, due to the attack led by Hamas on October 7.
The proposal is still being finalized, according to Saudi and Egyptian officials, but the Israeli government has so far rejected it, as the establishment of a Palestinian state is considered the main “sticking point.”
Israeli officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment, according to the Wall Street Journal.
This news emerged amid a renewed wave of diplomatic activity by American and European officials seeking to stop the fighting.
Egyptian officials said that US President Joe Biden’s senior advisor for Middle East affairs, Brett McGurk, arrived in the region on Monday to discuss the war and the fate of the Israeli hostages, and met with Egyptian officials in Cairo before heading to Qatar.
In Brussels, the European Union’s chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, led a group of foreign ministers who met with senior Arab officials, and separately with Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz.
At the meeting with EU foreign ministers, people involved in the discussion said the two sides talked to each other.
EU foreign ministers pressed for Israel’s plans for Gaza after the conflict, and for its approach to a two-state solution.
Katz did not address these issues significantly, instead showing his counterparts two videos promoting potential projects to boost Gaza’s economy.
At a news conference late Monday, Borrell said the videos “have little to do with the issues we are discussing.”
He added that it would have been better for Katz to “use his time by focusing on his country’s security and the number of deaths in Gaza.”
Israel’s Ambassador to the European Union, Haim Regev, noted that Katz took advantage of his first trip abroad since resuming his position to come to the European Union, and said: “It was a very important participation for us.”
The efforts of McGurk and officials from the European Union and Arabs come at a time when Israel is under increasing international and local pressure to develop a plan regarding who will rule Gaza after the war, and who will pay the costs of its reconstruction.
Arab officials said that the Arab plan is on a separate track from negotiations on the release of more than 100 Israeli hostages, still held by Hamas.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that he rejected a proposal presented by Egypt, Qatar and the United States to end the war in exchange for the release of the remaining hostages, and described it as “surrender.”
Egyptian officials said that several Israeli proposals to release the hostages, including a two-month pause in fighting as part of a multi-stage deal that includes the release of all remaining hostages held in Gaza, have already been rejected by Hamas.
The families of the Israelis still being held hostage are trying to increase pressure on the government to accept the deal.
The plan proposed by the five Arab countries also addresses what should happen in Gaza in the immediate aftermath of the war.
The Arab countries reject an Israeli request to assume direct responsibility for the reconstruction and security of the Gaza Strip when Hamas is “deposed,” arguing that it is Israel’s responsibility to do so.
Arab countries are proposing to train Palestinian security forces to help revive and reform the unpopular Palestinian Authority, and eventually to help organize elections, Arab officials said.
Netanyahu said that he would not allow the Palestinian Authority to play a role in Gaza after the war.
The United States has called for reform of the Palestinian Authority, and its president, Mahmoud Abbas, has shown no sign of being willing to relinquish power.
Saudi and Egyptian officials said Arab officials are still working on the plan and hope to finalize it in the coming weeks.