Last year, when 142 states endorsed the New York Declaration on the Two-State Solution and the UN Security Council Resolution 2803 gave the Gaza Peace Plan an operative framework, there was hope.
One year later, the situation on the ground has barely improved.
It is high time to fully implement the roadmap for Gaza:
- the decommissioning of Hamas matched by Israel’s withdrawal
- the deployment of the International Stabilisation Force and police
- the entering in Gaza of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza
Winter is coming and two million people face another winter in tents and rubble. Not because of a lack of money or aid, but because access remains blocked.
In the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, the Two-State Solution is being jeopardized on a daily basis. We see the images and hear the testimonies of what is happening in the West Bank, daily – settler violence, impunity, displacement of whole communities and de facto annexation. These settlements are illegal under international law.
The Israeli people will soon choose how their future should look like.
The real friends of Israel and of the Israeli people – among them the European Union – have been saying that the current status quo is unacceptable and that the two-State solution is the only reliable path for a stable and secure Israel.
In Palestine, it is time for the Palestinian Authority to be empowered through elections, through a renewed legitimacy. The European Union strongly supports these elections and calls on Israel to facilitate them.
There as well, we – as international community, together with the Palestinian Authority – need to provide the younger generations with renewed hope for a different future.
The European Union and its member states are strong supporters of the Two State solution, through the Global Alliance.
We are the largest donor to Palestinians since the 90s. The EU civilian missions, EUBAM Rafah and EUPOL COPPS, continue to be deployed and do an important work. And the EU is ready to scale them up.
Only the Two-State Solution can lead to a just and comprehensive resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with the State of Israel and an independent, democratic, contiguous, sovereign, and viable State of Palestine, living side by side in peace and security and mutual recognition, and with Jerusalem serving as the future capital of both states.
Action is required to preserve the two-State solution and the path to peace.
Thank you.
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