Tag: Israeli-Palestinian conflict

The Abraham Accords: ‘Palestinian leaders don’t realise that the region is changing’

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Palestinian human rights lawyer and former diplomat Ghaith al-Omari, a prominent advocate of the two-state solution and negotiations with Israel, gave FRANCE 24 a lengthy interview on a recent visit to Paris. In this last of a three-part series, he discussed the Abraham Accords, which saw the normalisation of diplomatic relations between Israel and several Arab countries. 

Ghaith al-Omari has long been a key player in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, acting as a Palestinian negotiator at the 2000 Camp David Summit convened by then-US president Bill Clinton and again at the 2001 Taba Summit in Egypt. He was an adviser to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas until 2006. With the peace process stalled since 2014, he now works as a senior fellow at the Washington Institute’s Irwin Levy Family Program on the US-Israel Strategic Relationship.  

Al-Omari was in Paris two weeks ago to unveil the Whispered in Gaza project – a series of short animated films based on the testimonies of Palestinians living in Gaza – at the French National Assembly.  

Former Palestinian negotiator Ghaith al-Omari pictured on March 22, 2023 in Paris. © Marc Daou, FRANCE 24

After speaking about the political situation in the occupied West Bank under the unbroken rule of the 87-year-old Abbas and the despair of Palestinian youth in the first two of this three-part interview series, al-Omari discusses the Abraham Accords, mediated by the US and signed in 2020. 

While the Palestinian cause remains popular among the Arab people, the signatories of the Accords have opened a new era for the region. Has this come at the expense of the Palestinian people?

I don’t believe that the signatories of the accords have turned their back on Palestinians. We are witnessing a new way of doing politics in the Middle East, centred in the Gulf. The Arab countries that are undertaking this new approach did this to pursue their national interests, and they have every right to do so. I think the Palestinian leaders don’t realise that the region is changing, they still live in the past, they still think that the days of Gamal Abdel Nasser [the former Egyptian president who championed pan-Arabism] will come back. They will not. Those good old days of ideologies such as pan-Arabism, pan-Islamism and Nasserism are slowly disappearing and no longer dominate (the region). 

This is the reality. And in this regard, Palestinians need to ask themselves if they can benefit from the new order when everyone else is focused on maximising their own interests, or are they going to remain on the sidelines and watch as history passes them by? I believe that there is a way for Palestinians to profit from the situation. As a former Palestinian negotiator, I can tell you that when we needed to effectively put pressure on the Israeli government, we call on Washington first, or course, and then Amman and Cairo. Why? Because the Arab countries that maintain diplomatic relations with Israel have the leverage to pressurise the nation’s leaders. And now, other Arab countries also have leverage. Let’s not forget that the United Arab Emirates have signed the Abraham Accords on condition that the Israeli government cease annexations of Palestinian territories. So, in a certain way, they’ve already delivered to the Palestinians. Palestinian leaders now have the choice of meeting with the leaders of these countries to express their respect of the decision to establish formal ties with Israel and seek out ways to profit from the situation, or do what they’re currently doing, which is condemning the new order and refusing to engage. 

How can the Palestinians benefit from the Accords? 

If they choose to engage, they will obtain strengthened political support from Arab countries. As we saw recently, the United Arab Emirates was willing to sponsor a UN Security Council resolution in support of the Palestinians in their fight against the construction and expansion of Israeli settlements. More than political support, there are also possibilities for economic benefits. Here’s an example: Two years ago Israel, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates signed a deal to address each other’s shortcomings. Jordan is a regional leader in clean energy production thanks to solar power plants yet remains one of the world’s most water deprived countries. The deal was then to build solar power plants in Jordan and desalination stations in Israel [editor’s note: Israel is a world leader in water desalination but is lacking in energy, particularly in the south of the country], swapping solar energy and water so that the needs of both countries are met. The United Arab Emirates meanwhile financed the project knowing full well that all surpluses sold would profit themselves. It’s a win-win-win situation. The Palestinians would have been a perfect candidate for this kind of deal as there are many project ideas such as those that they could participate in. There is much to gain but they need to make the choice of joining. The region is changing, and the Abraham Accords are here to stay. And we can see that despite the current tension between the Israeli government and its Arab counterparts, they continue to develop economic and security ties. 

Regarding the current state of Israeli politics, do the Accords help restrain the most right-wing Israeli government in history?

At the end of the day, the Israeli considerations will be primarily domestic politics, like all countries on earth. Nevertheless, with the Abraham Accords countries, today Israel has to think twice before taking certain actions. I can even tell you that according to an Israeli official source, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli diplomatic offices as well as Israeli intelligence community are all very sensitive to criticisms from the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco. They almost got used to criticism from Egypt and Jordan; they don’t take it seriously that much. But due to the popularity of the Abraham Accords in Israel, when these new partners criticise, the Israelis listen. So it creates a counter-pressure. We know, for example, that Benjamin Netanyahu held back his Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir when the latter wanted to take more provocative steps in Jerusalem. It is the prime minister’s fear of the United Arab Emirates, which has rapidly developed strong ties with Israel, cutting the relation that is getting him to really pressure his minister to refrain from some of these provocative actions. He doesn’t always succeed, he may not always want to succeed, but Israel is finding itself under a new pressure, without which the extremist elements of this government would be much stronger and much more assertive. 

From a broader perspective, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which once stood at the centre of international relations, seems to have been relegated to a regional issue. Do you agree? Has this helped facilitate a reconciliation between the signatories of the Accords and Israel?

Nowadays, the international community considers certain issues to be much more important, such as the war in Ukraine, China’s expanding power, Iran’s nuclear threats, not to mention the various crisis in Yemen, Syria and Libya. In terms of immediate risks, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has thus been eclipsed by much more risky conflicts. At a certain point, in the 90s’ up to the early 2000s’, there was a sense of opportunity, the idea that if you invest politically in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, you might get results. Today there is no sense of possibility. The Western world and regional players have understood that Palestinians are too weak to sign a deal and the Israelis are not interested anyways in such a deal. Political leaders are hence looking for an opportunity elsewhere, and that’s why the Abraham Accords are so popular. If you were a leader, would you want to engage in something that will fail? Even so, the world has moved on. In the end, it’s up to Palestinians and Israelis to re-capture the world’s attention on the issue of their conflict. Ironically, the extremist and sometimes racist policies of the current Israeli government attract a lot of scrutiny and generated many reactions internationally. The recent summoning of the Israeli ambassador to the US department of state in Washington was almost unprecedented. Even Israel’s new allies, such as the United Arab Emirates, have begun criticising the nation all the time. It’s one thing to ignore this conflict, but if there is a collapse, especially around Jerusalem, it can have spillover effects throughout the Arab world, throughout the Islamic world. So it’s a reminder that the issue cannot be completely ignored. 

This article was adapted from the original in French. 

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Israel blasted after riot police attacks worshippers in Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque

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Shock and outrage grow as video of armed police beating worshippers during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan goes viral. Israeli authorities claim they were trying to detain “law-breaking juveniles” who had “barricaded themselves” inside the compound.

Global criticism and concern mounted Wednesday after Israeli police attacked Palestinians inside Islam’s third-holiest site, sparking a military exchange of rockets and air strikes, with fears of further escalation.

Two more rockets were fired late Wednesday from the Israel-blockaded Gaza Strip towards Israel, the army and witnesses said, and fresh altercations broke out at Al-Aqsa mosquein Jerusalem during the Jewish Passover and the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Armed police in riot gear stormed the prayer hall of Al-Aqsa mosque before dawn Wednesday, aiming to dislodge “law-breaking youths and masked agitators” they said had barricaded themselves inside. A barrage of rocks and fireworks met the officers, police video showed, and more than 350 people were arrested.

United Nations chief ‘shocked and appalled’

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was “shocked and appalled” by images he saw of Israeli security forces beating people at the mosque, particularly because it came at a time holy to Jews, Christians and Muslims that should be a period of peace, his spokesman said.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the United States said he was “extremely concerned by the continuing violence and we urge all sides to avoid further escalation”.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose country and Israel have been rebuilding ties, said: “Trampling on the Al-Aqsa mosque is our red line.”

Later on Wednesday, Israeli police said “dozens of law-breaking juveniles, some of them masked, threw fireworks and stones” into the mosque and tried again to barricade themselves in as worshippers gathered for evening prayers.

Officers thwarted and dispersed the “violent rioters” and allowed worshippers to leave, police said. An AFP journalist saw Israeli security forces blocking access routes to the mosque.

Israel blames ‘violent rioters’

A spokesman for Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said Israel was “creating an atmosphere of escalation, instability and tension”, saying police stormed the mosque and attacked worshippers on Wednesday evening.

Violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has intensified since the new government of veteran Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took power in December, a coalition with extreme right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties.

74-year-old Palestinian witness Abdel Karim Ikraiem said Israeli police armed with batons, tear gas grenades and smoke bombs burst into the mosque “by force” and “beat the women and men” worshipping there early Wednesday.

One video widely circulated on social media showed police clubbing people on the floor inside the mosque. The Palestinian Red Crescent said it had treated 37 people, including some after their release from custody.

Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir voiced “complete backing” for police and their “swift and determined” actions.

Palestinian militant group Hamas, which rules Gaza, called on West Bank Palestinians “to go en masse to the Al-Aqsa mosque to defend it”. The mosque in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem is built on top of  what Jews call the Temple Mount, Judaism’s holiest site. It has been a frequent flashpoint, and similar raids there in May 2021 sparked the latest Gaza war that raged for 11 days.

Retaliation from Gaza

On Gaza’s streets, protesters burned tyres and swore “to defend and protect the Al-Aqsa mosque”. Within hours of the first clashes at Al-Aqsa mosque, at least nine rockets were fired from Gaza towards Israel, the army said, adding that “in response” warplanes struck two suspected Hamas weapons-manufacturing sites.

The air strikes were followed by new rocket fire from Gaza and further Israeli strikes, AFP journalists reported.

Later Wednesday witnesses reported two more rockets fired from northern Gaza. Israel said “one launch failed” and fell in Gaza while the other landed “in the area of the security fence” boundary. Islamic Jihad, another Gaza-based militant group, called the rockets “a first warning message”.

Palestinian civil affairs minister Hussein al-Sheikh condemned the Israeli police action inside Al-Aqsa, saying “the level of brutality requires urgent Palestinian, Arab and international action”.

Germany urged both sides “to do everything possible to calm the situation”.

International outrage

The Arab League denounced “the attack on the faithful” and called an emergency meeting.

Jordan, which administers the mosque, condemned its “storming”, and called on Israeli forces to leave the compound immediately.

The United Arab Emirates and Morocco, which established ties with Israel in 2020 as part of US-brokered accords, also strongly condemned the Israeli police action. A UAE foreign ministry statement rejected all practices that “threaten to further exacerbate escalation”. It also criticised worshippers who “barricade themselves”.

Morocco’s foreign ministry stressed the need “to avoid measures and violations likely to damage chances of peace in the region”.

The Gulf emirate of Qatar, which does not recognise Israel, warned that Israeli practices “will have serious repercussions on security and stability in the region, and will undermine efforts to revive the stalled peace process, if the international community does not hasten to take action”.

So far this year, the conflict has claimed the lives of at least 91 Palestinians, 15 Israelis and one Ukrainian, according to an AFP tally based on official sources from both sides.

(with AFP)

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Situation in Palestinian Territories ‘is completely hopeless if you’re young’

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Palestinian human rights lawyer and former diplomat Ghaith al-Omari, a prominent advocate of the two-state solution and negotiations with Israel, gave FRANCE 24 a lengthy interview on a recent visit to Paris. In this first of a two-part series, he lamented the lack of hope and prospects for Palestinian youth. 

Ghaith al-Omari has long been a key player in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, acting as a Palestinian negotiator at the 2000 Camp David Summit convened by then-US president Bill Clinton and again at the 2001 Taba Summit in Egypt. He was an adviser to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas until 2006. With the peace process stalled since 2014, he now works as a senior fellow at the Washington Institute’s Irwin Levy Family Program on the US-Israel Strategic Relationship. 

Al-Omari was in Paris last week to unveil the Whispered in Gaza project – a series of short animated films based on the testimonies of Palestinians living in Gaza, recounting their daily struggles under the rule of extremist Palestinian group Hamas and the Israeli blockade, both of which have been entrenched since 2007. 

In the first part of the interview, al-Omari spoke about the especially difficult situation faced by young Palestinians in both Gaza and the West Bank, many of whom feel desperately unhappy as they endure economic crisis and political paralysis. 

Former Palestinian negotiator Ghaith al-Omari pictured on March 22, 2023 in Paris. © FRANCE 24

Al-Omari also discussed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, widely seen as the most hardline in Israeli history, and which rules out any revival of the peace process.  

 

What are the prospects for the average 20-year-old in Gaza today? 

Unfortunately, the prospects are extremely dim. They have no options. The ability to find work, to find employment in Gaza, is non-existent. The economy in Gaza has been destroyed – partly because of the siege by Israel but also because of the practices of Hamas. Today, if you want to have a business in Gaza, you have to be either a member of Hamas or close to Hamas. If you don’t, you have no prospects. 

That’s why we see so many young people in Gaza taking huge risks and emigrating through the Mediterranean. Every day or two we hear about Palestinians from Gaza drowning in the Mediterranean trying to reach Europe. The situation today is completely hopeless if you’re a young Palestinian. 

And what about the West Bank? 

In the West Bank the situation is also hopeless. The economic situation is better; it is more open to the Israeli market, it is more open to Jordan. But there are also no prospects. The Israeli occupation creates limits on economic development – but the Palestinian Authority’s corruption also [leads to a] lack of opportunity for young people in the West Bank.

In both the West Bank and Gaza, there is also no space for political activism. It’s not only that the economy is dead, it is also that political life is dead. Actually, I was looking at a poll earlier: 50 percent [of people] in Gaza feel they cannot safely criticise Hamas; 50 percent in the West Bank feel they cannot safely criticise the Palestinian Authority. So you can’t have economic opportunity – and if you do not have political opportunity, you end up with despair. Today, this is what we have in Gaza and in the West Bank. 

So how can you give young Palestinians hope in politics and democracy, amid all this despair?

First of all, I think we need to start with steps that address Palestinian-Israeli relations, because you cannot talk about Palestinian domestic affairs without talking about the Israeli occupation. We cannot end it today […]. But we – and by we, I mean the international community – need to pressure Israel to take more steps that will move us closer to ending the occupation, and we need to take a stronger position when Israeli cabinet ministers make unacceptable statements.

Second, we need to apply pressure on the authorities both in Gaza and in the West Bank. In Gaza there are regional backers for Hamas. Qatar is their biggest economic backer; Turkey is their biggest political backer. And these are countries that are open to pressure from Europe, from the United States. Qatar is a close ally, [a] commercial ally with Europe, with the US. Turkey is a member of NATO and dependent on [it]. So we need to pressure them to create more political space [in Gaza].

We also need to work with our Arab allies, Jordan and Egypt, to pressure the Palestinian Authority to open the political space.

Third, we need to look at the economic situation and try to address the Palestinian private sector directly – not to go through governments, because both the Palestinian Authority and Hamas are corrupt. We need to fund projects on the ground – either ones that benefit a large number of Palestinians like infrastructure, or projects that invest in the private sector to allow for an independent private sector that can be resistant to pressure from the government. 

You’ve participated in several rounds of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Would you tell a young Palestinian to continue hoping for a two-state solution, which is to say, a Palestinian state coexisting with Israel? 

 Yes, because there is simply no alternative to this solution, and it is never too late for dialogue. At the end of the day, we have learned that Israel is here to stay; it will not disappear. The Palestinians will not disappear. And the only way to solve this conflict is through dialogue. Only a solution with two states, where each nation can express its aspirations and identity, is viable. However, today that is not possible. It is not possible for both Palestinian and Israeli reasons. 

On the Palestinian side, the Palestinian Authority is too weak. To reach a peace deal, you need strong leaders. Peace is a good thing – but peace is also a painful thing. Peace requires compromises. The Palestinians will have to give up some things that are important to them, and so will the Israelis. […] And when the leaders are weak, the leaders do not have the legitimacy to make these decisions. So on the Palestinian side, they’re too weak to reach a deal.

On the Israeli side, they do not want a deal. Today, the Israeli government does not support the two-state solution. That’s very clear. They are quite openly against a two-state solution. Moreover, some members [of the government], some very powerful members – like Finance Minister [Bezalel] Smotrich and Security Minister [Itamar] Ben-Gvir – these are people who want to annex the West Bank. These are people who do not even recognise that the Palestinians exist – Smotrich said it here in Paris. (Editor’s note: at a March 19 gala event in Paris, Smotrich told the crowd: “There are no Palestinians, there are just Arabs.”) So today it is impossible.   

This article was translated from the original in French. 

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Israeli police say three wounded in Tel Aviv shooting

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A Palestinian gunman opened fire on a crowded street in central Tel Aviv late Thursday, wounding three people before he was shot and killed, Israeli officials said. The shooting came hours after an Israeli military raid killed three Palestinian militants in the occupied West Bank.

The incidents were the latest violence in a year-long wave of Israel-Palestinian fighting that shows no signs of slowing.

The Tel Aviv shooting occurred on Dizengoff Street, a popular thoroughfare filled with shops and restaurants. The city was filled with people on Thursday night, the start of the Israeli weekend, and as anti-government protests were taking place.

The MADA rescue service said one of the wounded was in critical condition, while Zaka, another medical service, said the shooter was killed.

An image on social media showed what was believed to be the attacker standing in the middle of the road as he pointed a pistol. Dozens of police and rescuers rushed to the scene, which was quickly cordoned off.

Earlier Thursday, three Palestinian militants were killed in a shootout with Israeli troops in the northern West Bank.

Israeli security forces said they raided the village of Jaba to arrest suspects wanted for attacks on Israeli soldiers in the area. The suspects opened fire on Israeli troops, who shot back and killed three people, all affiliated with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group, police said.

The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the men as Sufyan Fakhoury, 26, Nayef Malaisha, 25 and Ahmed Fashafsha, 22, and said they were shot by Israeli fire during the military operation. A fourth man was hospitalized with a bullet wound to the head, authorities added.

Israeli police released a photo of assault rifles, pistols, ammunition and explosive devices they said troops confiscated in Jaba, just south of the flashpoint city of Jenin. Gunmen shot down an Israeli drone during the clashes, the military said.

The Jaba militant group, a fledgling militia of disillusioned young Palestinians who have taken up guns against Israel’s occupation, said members opened fire and hurled explosive devices at Israeli forces from a sedan — that now sits, smashed and bloodied, in the center of town. Residents said Israeli troops killed members of the group who had been recently incarcerated by Israel and had carried out a recent shooting attack at a nearby checkpoint.

This year has been marked by escalating unrest across the West Bank, as Israeli arrest raids spiral into protracted firefights with armed Palestinians.

On a visit to Israel, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters on Thursday that he discussed concerns over the upsurge in violence in the occupied West Bank with his Israeli counterpart, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

The United States was “urging everyone to de-escalate,” the defense secretary said, particularly in the run-up to the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which coincides this year with the Jewish holiday of Passover.

“The U.S. remains firmly opposed to acts that could trigger further instability, including settlement expansion and inflammatory rhetoric,” Austin said, adding that he was “especially disturbed” by settler violence against Palestinians. “We will continue to oppose actions that put a two-state solution out of reach.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s far-right government, which took office late last year, has already approved thousands of new settlement homes, legalized unauthorized outposts built partially on private Palestinian land and pledged to further entrench Israeli rule over the occupied territory. Last month, in response to a Palestinian attack that killed two Israelis, a mob of settlers rampaged through the Palestinian town of Hawara and torched dozens of homes and businesses, leaving one man dead.

The Israeli military on Thursday issued a report into the rampage that identified a series of failures, including an insufficient number of soldiers in the area and the need to send reinforcements faster. It said “lessons were drawn” about coordination between the army, police and internal security agents.

“This is a severe incident that took place under our responsibility and should not have happened,” said Israel’s military chief, Lt. Col. Herzi Halevi. “We will draw the necessary lessons and study them to prevent similar events from reoccurring in the future.”

Austin urged for calm even as the Gaza-based Islamic Jihad issued a veiled threat, saying its fighters would respond to the morning raid “to deter the enemy and avenge the blood of the martyrs.” Rocket fire from the Gaza Strip has previously followed violence in the West Bank.

The Jaba armed group includes gunmen from various factions, including Islamic Jihad and the armed offshoot of the nationalist Fatah party. Militants in the village say that Islamic Jihad supports the group and provides members with weapons.

The group is part of a larger trend of emerging armed groups across the West Bank that have been mounting shooting attacks on Israeli soldiers and civilians and opening fire during Israeli raids on their towns, defying the increasingly unpopular Palestinian Authority. In areas of the northern West Bank where much of the fighting has been focused, the PA’s control is receding as young Palestinians’ hopes dim for statehood.

The hardscrabble streets of Jaba teemed with young Palestinians in black chanting against the Israeli occupation and firing into the air as they held the bodies of militants aloft.

Yousef Hammour, a 28-year-old in the funeral procession, said Palestinian rage at Israel is only intensifying with the stepped-up arrest raids.

“Everyone’s in shock, everyone’s angry,” said Hammour. “Every single day they’re killing more and more of us. If they attack us, we’ll attack them.”

Earlier in the week, at least six Palestinians were killed in an Israeli raid in the Jenin refugee camp. The Palestinian Health Ministry said that 14-year-old Walid Nasser died Thursday from wounds suffered in Tuesday’s raid.

At least 74 Palestinians, around half of them affiliated with militant groups, have died in Israel’s raids in the West Bank since the beginning of the year. During the same time 14 people, all but one of them civilians, were killed in Palestinian attacks against Israelis.

Israel captured the West Bank, along with the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, in the 1967 Mideast war, territories the Palestinians seek for their future state. In the decades since, more than 700,000 Jewish settlers have moved into dozens of settlements in the West Bank and Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, which the international community considers illegal and an obstacle to peace.

(AP)

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Israeli settlers rampage after deadly Palestinian attack in West Bank

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Scores of Israeli settlers went on a violent rampage in the northern West Bank late Sunday, setting dozens of cars and homes on fire after two settlers were killed by a Palestinian gunman. Palestinian medics said one man was killed and four others were badly wounded in what appeared to be the worst outburst of settler violence in decades.

The deadly shooting, followed by the late-night rampage, immediately raised doubts about Jordan’s declaration that Israeli and Palestinian officials had pledged to calm a year-long wave of violence.

Palestinian media said some 30 homes and cars were torched. Photos and video on social media showed large fires burning throughout the town of Hawara — scene of the deadly shooting earlier in the day — and lighting up the sky.

In one video, a crowd of Jewish settlers stood in prayer as they stared at a building in flames. And earlier, a prominent Israeli Cabinet minister and settler leader had called for Israel to strike “without mercy.”

Late Sunday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said a 37-year-old man was shot and killed by Israeli fire. The Palestinian Red Crescent medical service said two other people were shot and wounded, a third person was stabbed and a fourth was beaten with an iron bar. Some 95 others were being treated for tear gas inhalation.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned what he called “the terrorist acts carried out by settlers under the protection of the occupation forces tonight.”

“We hold the Israeli government fully responsible,” he added.

The European Union said it was “alarmed by today’s violence” in Huwara, and said “authorities on all sides must intervene now to stop this endless cycle of violence.” The UK’s ambassador to Israel, Neil Wigan, said that “Israel should tackle settler violence, with those responsible brought to justice.”

As videos of the violence appeared on evening news shows, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appealed for calm and urged against vigilante violence. “I ask that when blood is boiling and the spirit is hot, don’t take the law into your hands,” Netanyahu said in a video statement.

The Israeli military said its chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Herzl Halevi, rushed to scene. It said troops were being reinforced in the area as they worked to restore order and search for the shooter.

Ghassan Douglas, a Palestinian official who monitors Israeli settlements in the Nablus region. said that settlers burned at least six houses and dozens of cars in Hawara, and reported attacks on other neighbouring Palestinian villages. He estimated around 400 Jewish settlers took part in the attack.

“I never seen such an attack,” he said.

The rampage occurred shortly after the Jordanian government, which hosted Sunday’s talks at the Red Sea resort of Aqaba, said the sides had agreed to take steps to de-escalate tensions and would meet again next month ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

“They reaffirmed the necessity of committing to de-escalation on the ground and to prevent further violence,” the Jordanian Foreign Ministry announced.

After nearly a year of fighting that has killed over 200 Palestinians and more than 40 Israelis in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, the Jordanian announcement marked a small sign of progress. But the situation on the ground immediately cast those commitments into doubt.

The Palestinians claim the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip – areas captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war – for a future state. Some 700,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. The international community overwhelmingly considers the settlements as illegal and obstacles to peace.

The West Bank is home to a number of hard-line settlements whose residents frequently vandalize Palestinians land and property. But rarely is the violence so widespread.

Prominent members of Israel’s far-right government called for tough action against the Palestinians.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a settler leader who lives in the area and has been put in charge of much of Israel’s West Bank policy, called for “striking the cities of terror and its instigators without mercy, with tanks and helicopters.”

Using a phrase that calls for a more heavy-handed response, he said Israel should act “in a way that conveys that the master of the house has gone crazy.”

Late Sunday, however, Smotrich appealed to his fellow settlers to let the army and government do their jobs. “It is forbidden to take the law into your hands and create dangerous anarchy that could spin out of control and cost lives,” he said.

Earlier, in Israeli ministerial committee gave initial approval to a bill that would impose the death penalty on Palestinians convicted in deadly attacks. The measure was sent to lawmakers for further debate.

There were also differing interpretations of what exactly was agreed to in Aqaba between the Palestinians and Israelis.

Jordan’s Foreign Ministry said the representatives agreed to work toward a “just and lasting peace” and had committed to preserving the status quo at Jerusalem’s contested holy site.

Tensions at the site revered by Jews as the Temple Mount and Muslims as the Haram al-Sharif have often spilled over into violence, and two years ago sparked an 11-day war between Israel and the Hamas militant group during Ramadan.

Officials with Israel’s government, the most right-wing in Israeli history, played down Sunday’s meeting.

A senior official, speaking on condition of anonymity under government guidelines, said only that the sides in Jordan agreed to set up a committee to work at renewing security ties with the Palestinians. The Palestinians cut off ties last month after a deadly Israeli military raid in the West Bank.

Netanyahu’s national security adviser, Tzachi Hanegbi, who led the Israeli delegation said there were “no changes” in Israeli policies and that plans to build thousands of new settlement homes approved last week would not be affected.

He said “there is no settlement freeze” and “there is no restriction on army activity.”

The Jordanian announcement had said Israel pledged not to legalize any more outposts for six months or to approve any new construction in existing settlements for four months.

The Palestinians, meanwhile, said they had presented a long list of grievances, including an end to Israeli settlement construction on occupied lands and a halt to Israeli military raids on Palestinian towns.

Sunday’s shooting in Hawara came days after an Israeli military raid killed 10 Palestinians in the nearby city of Nablus. The shooting occurred on a major highway that serves both Palestinians and Israeli settlers. The two men who were killed were identified as brothers, ages 21 and 19, from the Jewish settlement of Har Bracha.

Hanegbi was joined by the head of Israel’s Shin Bet domestic security agency who attended the talks in neighbouring Jordan. The head of the Palestinian intelligence services as well as advisers to President Mahmoud Abbas also joined.

Jordan’s King Abdullah II, who has close ties with the Palestinians, led the discussions, while Egypt, another mediator, and the United States also participated.

In Washington, the US national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, welcomed the meeting. “We recognize that this meeting was a starting point,” he said, adding that implementation will be critical.”

It was a rare high-level meeting between the sides, illustrating the severity of the crisis and the concerns of increased violence as Ramadan approaches in late March.

In Gaza, Hamas, an Islamic militant group that seeks Israel’s destruction, criticized Sunday’s meeting and called the shooting a “natural reaction” to Israeli incursions in the West Bank.

Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005. The Hamas militant group subsequently took control of the territory, and Israel and Egypt maintain a blockade over the territory.

(AP)

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It’s the right time for the EU to bring peace to the Middle East

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The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent in any way the editorial position of Euronews.

Let’s face it: for all efforts and money spent, the European Union has been a junior partner in the now nearly non-existent Israeli-Palestinian peace process. 

Two circumstances might force the EU to go beyond playing solely a supportive role: first, the ultranationalist makeup — and the policy that goes with it — of the new Netanyahu government.

Secondly, there is the limited capacity of the United States to offset a descent into chaos of Israeli-Palestinian relations — a prospect that New York Times columnist and Middle East veteran Thomas Friedman has dubbed “the One Big Mess Solution.” 

Not that the US does not care, as witnessed by Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s recent visit to Jerusalem. 

Yet, these days, the Biden administration has too much on its hands — from the war in Ukraine to the challenges coming from Beijing — to invest its political capital in a seemingly intractable issue. 

Gone are the times of US-led Middle East peace initiatives.

Can the EU pick up the slack? 

Abraham Accords, the progress that needs to be capitalised on

The honest answer is that it cannot, yet it has the additional responsibility of filling the security vacuum. 

To do so, the EU should also look to the wider regional picture beyond the Israeli-Palestinian crisis. The former must not be jeopardised by the latter. 

Momentous progress made by Israel and the Arab states, namely through the Abraham Accords, needs to be consolidated. 

The Accords have normalised diplomatic relations between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco. In the Gulf, these have led to renewed trade, tourism, and security relations with Israel and sparked talk of $1 trillion (€942 billion) in economic ties over the coming decade. 

If other Arab states join in, the ensuing economic prosperity could spread to the region and might as well have a very positive impact on the lives and prospects of the youth. 

Which is what is missing now in the West Bank and in Gaza.

While the Abraham Accords have enhanced Israel’s overall security also vis-a-vis Iran, they help in defusing the Palestinian time bomb and have since encouraged reviving the so-called two-state solution.

Today, the EU cannot have an Israel-Palestine policy without including it in its Gulf policy. That is, after all, where the Abraham Accords originated. 

Abu Dhabi and Dubai have become familiar destinations for Israeli politicians and businessmen. 

The UAE has been a trailblazer, but other Arab States are following suit, slowly, maybe, but steadily.

Violence needs to be addressed first

For Brussels to be effective, however, it would need a comprehensive strategy that would be able to address and deal with the ongoing violence, for one.

Tensions flared up almost a year ago when Israel Defence Forces (IDF) launched Operation Breakwater. On the ground, this turned into a reciprocal escalation between the IDF and Palestinian armed groups. 

The new Israeli government has poured oil on the fire. Last month, the Palestinian Authority moved to end the security cooperation with Israel. 

The Netanyahu government has also raised the stakes with Iran, especially after the Islamic Republic claimed that Israel was behind a drone strike against a military industry factory in Isfahan in early February.

But it is on the Palestinian policy that Israel finds itself isolated, and the response to its actions on the ground did not arise from anti-Israel bias.

The US has been vocal in its concerns and has asked for a “pause” in violence between Israelis and Palestinians. 

In January, China and the UAE called for a UN Security Council meeting after the incident at Al-Aqsa Mosque. 

IDF’s raid on a Palestinian refugee camp in Jenin was also widely condemned, as well as the subsequent terrorist attack against a synagogue near Jerusalem.

Brussels should use diplomacy to its advantage

When it comes to our continent, there are limitations to what the EU can do. 

It does not have strong leverage on Israel; on the Palestinian side, the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank has a good relationship with Brussels but is weak, and Hamas in Gaza is on the EU terrorist list. 

But it has a “clean” unbroken track record, both in regional outreach and on the Palestinian issue, to start with. 

In 2021, it reiterated that strong Mediterranean partnerships remained a “strategic imperative.”

Additionally, it urged the renewal of continental efforts to reach the two-state solution between Israel and Palestine. 

And it also has indirect diplomacy at its disposal.

Firstly, some of the EU’s regional partners can leverage their own diplomatic clout to facilitate dialogue.

Egypt, for instance, has direct contact with all players, including Hamas. 

Through careful yet deliberate engagement, such partners could reinforce the EU’s credibility with the Palestinian side. 

On the other hand, by engaging with Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE, the EU can take advantage of their increasingly positive relationship with Israel, which gives them economic and, above all, security clout in Jerusalem. 

In this regard, the EU should strengthen and formalize channels of communication. The EU-GCC strategic partnership, heightened in 2022, must be activated without delay. 

One of its key objectives is precisely what is needed right now: strengthening dialogue and coordination on regional and global security issues. 

And, of course, communication needs communicators. Thus, the urgent need for a special representative for the Gulf would signal to the EU’s regional partners that the wider Middle East region is among the top European foreign policy priorities. 

Symbolics aside, the EU’s special envoy for the Gulf could add significant momentum to the regional dialogue.

Strike while the iron is hot

Only Israelis and Palestinians can bring peace between themselves. But they can do it with some help.

The Biden administration has indicated its continuing willingness to lend it but will not be proactive. 

In the Middle East, as elsewhere, Washington needs to rely more on European support. 

It is a very long shot for the EU to play the peacemaker role on the Palestinian issue after the US failed time and again, but that was then, and this is now. 

Never have regional circumstances been so favourable to Israel’s external security and stability. 

The time has come for the EU to give it a try by partnering not only with the US but also with regional players.

Ambassador Stefano Stefanini is a former diplomatic advisor to the president of Italy. He has also served as Italy’s permanent representative to NATO and Deputy Chief of Mission at the Italian Embassy in Washington.

At Euronews, we believe all views matter. Contact us at [email protected] to send pitches or submissions and be part of the conversation.

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Blinken expresses ‘sorrow’ over deaths of innocent Palestinians on Ramallah trip

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is wrapping up a two-day visit to Israel and the occupied West Bank on Tuesday with renewed appeals for Israeli-Palestinian calm amid an alarming spike of violence.

Blinken met Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank town of Ramallah on Tuesday, a day after seeing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Standing alongside the Israeli leader, Blinken stressed the importance the Biden administration places on resolving the long-running conflict with a two-state solution.

However, beyond urging a de-escalation of tensions, Blinken offered no new US initiative to do so. There were no signs that Blinken was making progress on even the modest goal of halting the latest wave of violence, much less of addressing the broader issues surrounding peace talks.

After meeting Abbas, Blinken expressed “condolences and sorrow for the innocent Palestinian civilians who have lost their lives in escalating violence over the last year”.

Abbas placed all blame for the spike in violence on Israel and berated the international community for not doing more to pressure Israel.

Cessation of violence only path to peace

“We affirm that the Israeli government is responsible for what is happening today,” he said, adding: “Israel is being overlooked, without deterrence or accountability, as it continues its unilateral operations.”

He called for the “complete cessation” of those operations, saying that would be “the main entry point for returning the political horizon.”

Netanyahu’s far-right government is dominated by hard-liners who oppose Palestinian statehood and are unlikely to make even minimal concessions.

Blinken’s visit comes amid one of the deadliest periods of fighting in years in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem. The violence has further complicated the administration’s already difficult attempts to find common ground with Netanyahu’s government.

In Ramallah, Blinken was expected to discuss the Palestinian Authority’s decision to halt security coordination with Israel. The security ties, which in the past are believed to have helped contain violence, are deeply unpopular among everyday Palestinians, who accuse Abbas of acting as a subcontractor for the Israeli military.

Before heading to the West Bank, Blinken met with Israel’s opposition leader, former Prime Minister Yair Lapid.

Blinken calls for equality

“The secretary conveyed his concern over the deteriorating security situation in the West Bank and the need for urgent action to prevent greater loss of life. Secretary Blinken reiterated that Israelis and Palestinians deserve to have equal measures of security, prosperity and freedom,” his office said.

Following a meeting with Blinken on Monday, Netanyahu made only passing reference to the Palestinians and focused instead on Iran, which he believes is his most urgent security priority.

Netanyahu’s coalition partners also gave a cool reception to Blinken’s comments.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, leader of the ultranationalist Jewish Power party, vowed to push forward with punitive measures against the Palestinians in response to a pair of shootings in east Jerusalem over the weekend. Ben-Gvir has pledged to demolish Palestinian homes and hand out more weapons to Israeli civilians.

Cabinet Minister Orit Strock, another ultranationalist, objected to comments by Blinken that were seen as criticising the Israeli government’s plan to overhaul the country’s judicial system and weaken the Supreme Court.

During his appearance with Netanyahu, Blinken voiced “support for core democratic principles and institutions,” including “the equal administration of justice for all, the equal rights of minority groups, the rule of law.” Critics say Netanyahu’s plan will weaken the country’s judicial system and destroy its democratic system of checks and balances.

US medddling in Israeli affairs

Speaking to the Kan public broadcaster, Strok accused Blinken of meddling in internal Israeli affairs.

“We’re not the 51st or 52nd state of the US, and he didn’t need to interfere in internal disputes in the state of Israel,” she said. “It’s not his job.”

Before leaving Jerusalem for Ramallah, Blinken met with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant who repeated the prime minister’s concern about Iran.

“Your visit comes at a critical time,” Gallant said. “It sends a clear message to the region: the United States and Israel are united facing Iran or anyone threatening peace and stability in the region.”

Blinken agreed about unity when confronting Iran and preventing it from acquiring nuclear weapons. He said the U.S. commitment to Israel’s security remains ‘ironclad’ but suggested there was more on his agenda. “We have a lot on our hands in this moment and so I couldn’t see you at a better time,” he said.

January is shaping up to be the deadliest month in the West Bank and east Jerusalem in years. Some 35 Palestinians have been killed in fighting, including 10 who were killed in an Israeli military raid in the flashpoint town of Jenin last Thursday.

On Friday, a Palestinian gunman killed seven people outside a synagogue in an east Jerusalem settlement on Friday. The next morning, a 13-year-old Palestinian boy shot and wounded two Israelis elsewhere in east Jerusalem.

Israel’s options may be limited. Both shooters are believed to have acted individually and were not part of organized militant groups, and punitive steps against the broader population such as those promoted by Ben-Gvir could risk triggering even more violence. Israel has also pledged to “strengthen” West Bank settlements.

No progress

The US, like most of the international community, considers Israeli settlements on lands claimed by the Palestinians for their state as obstacles to peace. However, the Biden administration has yet to restore a decades-old legal opinion that the settlements are “illegitimate” that had been rescinded under former President Donald Trump.

Nor has it made any progress on its stated intent to re-open the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem, which had been the main conduit for engagement with the Palestinians before Trump closed it. The closure was part of his decision to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to the contested city of Jerusalem, a step that infuriated the Palestinians.

The violence comes after months of Israeli arrest raids in the West Bank, which were launched after a wave of Palestinian attacks against Israelis in the spring of 2022 that killed 19 people.

But it has spiked this month during the first weeks of Netanyahu’s new far-right government, which has promised to take a tough stance against the Palestinians and ramp up settlement construction.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AFP)

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New shooting in east Jerusalem, hours after synagogue attack left seven dead

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An assailant shot and wounded at least two people in east Jerusalem on Saturday, Israeli medics said, hours after a Palestinian gunman killed seven outside a synagogue in one of the deadliest such attacks in years.

Police said the suspect was “neutralised” following the latest gun attack in the Silwan neighbourhood, just outside Jerusalem’s old, walled city.

It came a day after one of the deadliest army raids in the occupied West Bank in roughly two decades, as well as rocket fire from militants in the Gaza Strip and Israeli retaliatory air strikes.

A Palestinian gunman opened fire outside an east Jerusalem synagogue Friday night, killing seven people, including a 70-year-old woman, and wounding three others before he was shot and killed by police, officials said. It was the deadliest attack on Israelis in years and raised the likelihood of more bloodshed. 

The attack, which occurred as residents were observing the Jewish sabbath, came a day after an Israeli military raid killed nine Palestinians in the West Bank. Friday’s shooting set off celebrations in both the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, where people fired guns into the air, honked horns and distributed sweets.

The burst of violence, which also included a rocket barrage from Gaza and retaliatory Israeli airstrikes, has posed an early challenge for Israel’s new government, which is dominated by ultranationalists who have pushed for a hard line against Palestinian violence. It also cast a cloud over a visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to the region Sunday.

Addressing reporters at Israel’s national police headquarters, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had held a security assessment and decided on “immediate actions.” He said he would convene his Security Cabinet on Saturday night, after the end of the sabbath, to discuss a further response. 

Netanyahu declined to elaborate but said Israel would act with “determination and composure.” He called on the public not to take the law into their own hands.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the US strongly condemned the attack and was “shocked and saddened by the loss of life,” noting it came on International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

US officials said later Friday that President Joe Biden spoke with Netanyahu to offer US support to the government and people of Israel, calling the shootings “an attack against the civilised world.” “The President stressed the iron-clad US commitment to Israel’s security,” the White House said of the call. 

Israeli police said the shootings occurred in Neve Yaakov, a settlement with a large ultra-Orthodox population, and that the gunman fled in a car. Police said they chased after him and after an exchange of fire, killed him.

Jerusalem police chief Doron Turjeman confirmed seven deaths, in addition to the shooter, and said three people were wounded.

Police identified the attacker as a 21-year-old east Jerusalem resident who apparently acted alone.

There has been no indication that he had prior involvement in militant activity or was a member of an established Palestinian armed group. Turjeman promised an “aggressive and significant” effort to track down anyone who helped him.  

In a statement, police said they had arrested “42 people for questioning” overnight, “some of them members of the terrorist’s family”. 

Others detained included residents of the gunman’s neighbourhood, police said.

Police also released a photo of the pistol it said was used by the attacker. 

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant huddled with Israel’s military chief and other top security officials and instructed them to assist police and strengthen defenses near Jerusalem and for Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.

“Israel’s defense establishment will operate decisively and forcefully against terror and will reach anyone involved in the attack,” Gallant said. 

Israel’s MADA rescue service said that those killed included five men and two women, among them several who were 60 or older. Jerusalem’s Hadassah Hospital said a 15-year-old boy was recovering from surgery.

The attack was the deadliest on Israelis since a 2008 shooting killed eight people in a Jewish seminary in Jerusalem, according to the foreign ministry. Given the location and timing, it threatened to trigger a tough response from Israel.

Overnight Thursday, Gaza militants fired several rockets into southern Israel, with all of them either intercepted or landing in open areas. Israel responded with airstrikes on targets in Gaza. No casualties were reported, and calm had appeared to be taking hold before Friday night’s shooting.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. In Gaza, Hazem Qassem, spokesman for the ruling Hamas militant group, said the attack was “a revenge and natural response” to the deadly military raid Thursday.

Hezbollah, the Iran-backed group, also issued a statement on Saturday, praising the attack.  

At several locations across the Gaza Strip, dozens of Palestinians gathered in spontaneous demonstrations to celebrate the Jerusalem attack, with some coming out of dessert shops with large trays of sweets to distribute. 

In downtown Gaza City, celebratory gunfire could be heard, as cars honked and calls of “God is great!” wafted from mosque loudspeakers. In various West Bank towns, Palestinians launched fireworks.

The attack escalated tensions that were already heightened following Thursday’s raid in the West Bank refugee camp of Jenin, where nine people, including at least seven militants and a 61-year-old woman, were killed. It was the deadliest single raid in the West Bank in two decades. A 10th Palestinian was killed in separate fighting near Jerusalem.

Angry Palestinians marched Friday as they buried the last of those killed a day earlier.

Scuffles between Israeli forces and Palestinian protesters erupted after the funeral for a 22-year-old Palestinian north of Jerusalem and elsewhere in the occupied West Bank, but calm prevailed in the contested capital and in the blockaded Gaza Strip for most of the day.

That suddenly dissolved with the east Jerusalem shooting, described as “horrific and heartbreaking” by Yair Lapid, the opposition leader and former prime minister.

Neve Yaakov is a religious Jewish settlement that Israel considers to be a neighborhood of its capital. Israel claims all of Jerusalem as its undivided capital, while the Palestinians seek east Jerusalem, captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war, as a capital of their future state.

Blinken’s trip will probably now focus heavily on lowering tensions. He is likely to discuss the underlying causes of the conflict, the agenda of Israel’s new far-right government and the Palestinian Authority’s decision to halt security coordination with Israel in response to the Jenin raid.

The Biden administration has been deeply engaged with Israeli and Palestinian leaders in recent days, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said, underscoring the “urgent need here for all parties to deescalate to prevent the further loss of civilian life and to work together to improve the security situation in the West Bank.”

Israel and Hamas have fought four wars and several smaller skirmishes since the militant group seized power in Gaza from rival forces in 2007.

Tensions have soared since Israel stepped up raids in the West Bank last spring, following a series of Palestinian attacks.

Nearly 150 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank and east Jerusalem in 2022, making it the deadliest year in those territories since 2004, according to leading Israeli rights group B’Tselem. Last year, 30 people were killed in Palestinian attacks against Israelis.

So far this year, 30 Palestinians have been killed, according to a count by The Associated Press.

Israel says most of the dead were militants. But youths protesting the incursions and others not involved in the confrontations also have been killed.

Israel says its raids are meant to dismantle militant networks and thwart attacks. The Palestinians say they further entrench Israel’s 55-year, open-ended occupation of the West Bank, captured along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Mideast war.

(FRANCE 24 with AP, AFP and Reuters)

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