Europeans, Arab & Muslim nations launch initiative for independent Palestinian state

Associated Press United Nations: European, Arab, and Islamic nations have launched an initiative to strengthen support for a Palestinian state and its institutions, and prepare for a future after the war in Gaza and escalating conflict in Lebanon, Norway's foreign minister said Friday. Espen Barth Eide told The Associated Press that “there is a growing consensus in the international community from Western countries, from Arab countries, from the Global South, that we need to establish a Palestinian Authority, a Palestinian government, a Palestinian state — and the Palestinian state has to be recognised.” Eide said many issues need to be addressed, including the security interests of Israel and the Palestinians, the recognition and normalization of relations after decades of conflict, and the demobilisation of Hamas as a military group.

“These are pieces of a bigger puzzle,” Norway's chief diplomat said. “And you can't just come in there with one of these pieces, because it only works if all the pieces are laid in place.” But even if the puzzle is completed, it's unlike ly to gain traction w i t h P r i m e M i n i s - ter Benjamin Netanyahu. Still, Eide believes that after decades of failed or stalled negotiations, “we need to take a new approach” to achieving an independent Palestinian state. To accelerate work on these issues, Eide said almost 90 countries attended a meeting Thursday on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly's current gathering of world leaders. He and Saudi Arabia's foreign minister co-chaired the session to launch “The Global Alliance for the Implementation of a Palestinian State and a Two- State Solution.” “We have to see how we can come out of this deadlock and try to use this deep crisis also as an opportunity to move forward,” Eide told a U.N. Security Council meeting on Gaza later Friday.

Norway is the guarantor of the 1993 Oslo Accords, hailed as a breakthrough in the decades-long conflict between Arabs and Jews, which created the Palestinian Authority and set up self-rule areas in the Palestinian Authority. Eide said more than 30 years later, Israel's “ occupition” is continuing, and the reare no negotiations leading to a final settlement and an independent Palestinian state — which led to Norway's decision in May to recognize a Palestinian state.

Now, 149 of the U.N.'s 193 member nations have recognized a Palestinian state. Eide urged all countries “to contribute to universal recognition” and strengthen Palestinian institutions so they live up to the expectations of people in the West Bank.