The Palestinians asked the European Union to pick up the mantle in defense of the two-state solution if the upcoming U.S. peace plan ditches Palestinian statehood, their U.N. ambassador said Tuesday.
President Donald Trump’s administration is expected to unveil the long-awaited plan possibly as early as next month, but the Palestinians have already rejected it as heavily biased in favor of Israel.
Riyad Mansour told reporters that he urged European officials during recent meetings in Brussels to seize the initiative and not allow the United States to be the pre-eminent player in the Mideast peace process.
He urged the EU to call for an international conference that would reaffirm the global consensus of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and reject the U.S. approach. “We are engaging them,” Mansour told reporters about his meetings with EU officials. “They have to act.
“We would be extremely happy to show that there is more than one player in the field, trying to determine how we move forward.”
The Palestinians have also urged European countries in particular France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Belgium and Luxembourg to recognize Palestine as a state.
Mansour said the Palestinians also wanted Russia to step up its Middle East diplomacy and suggested that the United Nations could convene the Middle East peace quartet.
The U.S. peace plan is expected to feature proposals for regional economic development that would include Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon but the Palestinians have been adamant that it will fail.
Mansour said the U.S. plan, which he has not seen, appears to be aimed at providing a “pretext” for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to annex Palestinian territory.
Mansour said he was convinced that the Palestinians still enjoyed “massive support in the international arena,” but suggested that if diplomacy failed, the battle could then turn to demographics.
“If this is what they want to force on us one-state reality the Palestinian people will accelerate their reproduction machines and increase the number of Palestinians to face apartheid,” he said.
Separately, Qatar said it is sending $480 million to Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip after a cease-fire deal ended the deadliest fighting between Israel and Palestinian armed factions since a 2014 war.Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said $300 million would support health and education programs of the Palestinian Authority, while $180 million would go toward “urgent humanitarian relief” in U.N. programs and toward electricity. The Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip suffers from chronic electricity shortages.
The recent two-day outbreak of violence killed 25 people in Gaza, both fighters and civilians, and four civilians in Israel.
Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem said Egyptian mediators, along with officials from Qatar and the U.N., helped broker the cease-fire deal. The deal is believed to include a number of economic aid and development programs in Gaza, including providing additional electricity and creating temporary jobs in a territory where unemployment has skyrocketed to over 50 percent.
Israel approved the resumption of fuel shipments into the Gaza Strip Tuesday after cutting off the supply during Sunday’s surge of violence, according to COGAT, the Israeli defense body responsible for Palestinian civilian affairs. It confirmed Israel would indefinitely ease restrictions on the movement of people and goods through its two main crossings with the territory next week.
This marks the first time in recent years that Qatar has funded the Palestinian Authority directly. In recent years, its money has only gone to Gaza, where it opened a hospital just last month.
In the West Bank, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas thanked the Qataris and said the aid would “help the Palestinian people overcome some of their hardships, face the challenges and strengthen their steadfastness on their land.”
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh also welcomed the Qatari aid and thanked the Gulf state’s leader. “This honorable decision is a continuation of the unwavering Qatari stances that support the Palestinian people politically and financially, in addition to defending the Palestinian rights at international platforms,” he said.