Arab states and the EU for a two-state solution

Arab states and the European Union agreed yesterday at a meeting in Spain that a two-state solution is the answer to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and the head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell, said that the Palestinian Authority should govern Gaza.

Borel said that all EU members who attended the summit of Mediterranean countries in Barcelona and almost all the participants agreed on the need for a two-state model, Reuters reported.

The Palestinian Authority must hold elections as soon as possible to gain additional legitimacy and improve functioning, as the only "sustainable solution" for the future leadership of Gaza, which is currently governed by Hamas Islamists, to avoid a "power vacuum," Borel said.

"I believe it is the only sustainable solution, but it will be sustainable if the international community supports it. Otherwise, there will be a power vacuum that will be fertile ground for all kinds of violent organizations," Borel said at a press conference.

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said the Palestinian people should decide who rules them and that any talk of post-conflict administration of Gaza should focus on the West Bank and Gaza as a single entity.

The two-state solution envisions a state for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip alongside Israel.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said the Palestinian Authority, which lost control of the Gaza Strip in 2007 in a power struggle with Hamas, had no need to return to Gaza, adding: "We are there all the time, we have 60.000 workers there in public administration".

The three officials were speaking at the end of a brief meeting of the Union Forum for the Mediterranean in Barcelona, ​​a 43-member grouping of European, North African and Middle Eastern nations. Israel did not attend the summit. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan spoke as a representative of a group of ministers from the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

"We have conveyed our message, it is important that we have an immediate ceasefire, that we build on the ceasefire that is in force," he told reporters after the end of the conference.

German Foreign Minister Analena Berbock said Israel's absence over apparent concerns about "unilateral hostility" underscored "deep divisions."

An extended truce

Mediator Qatar announced yesterday that an agreement had been reached to extend the humanitarian truce between Israeli forces and Hamas in Gaza by two days, continuing a pause in the seven-day battle that has killed thousands and devastated the Palestinian enclave.

Hamas also said it had agreed to a two-day extension of the truce with Qatar and Egypt, which are mediating negotiations between the two sides. Egyptian authorities announced the release of 20 Israeli hostages taken by Hamas during an October 7 attack on southern Israel. In return, 60 Palestinians will be released from Israeli prisons.

The original truce was supposed to expire last night.

The Palestinian head of diplomacy said a few hours before the end of the truce deadline:

"We have to find a way to put pressure on the Israeli government not to continue killing innocent people, so we can continue counting the bodies," Al Maliki said in Spanish during a news conference in Barcelona.

After the release of 11 Israeli hostages that was expected yesterday, negotiations for the release of 33 Palestinians are continuing, Egypt announced.

The truce agreed last week is the first ceasefire since Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1.200 people and taking 240 hostages in Gaza, according to Israeli figures.

Israel responded by bombing the enclave and launching a ground offensive in the north. About 14.800 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds of thousands displaced, according to Gaza health authorities.

Large areas of the enclave have been razed to the ground in Israeli attacks, and the humanitarian crisis is worsening amid shortages of food, fuel, drinking water and medicine. The ceasefire agreement also allowed aid trucks to enter Gaza.

Hamas released 17 people on Sunday, including a four-year-old Israeli-American girl, bringing the total number of people freed by the group since Friday to 58, including foreigners.

Israel released 39 Palestinian teenagers from prison on Sunday, bringing the total number of freed Palestinians to 117.

Under the current deal, Hamas is supposed to release a total of 50 Israeli women and children it is holding hostage in Gaza. The agreement does not contain a limit on the number of foreigners it can release.

Israeli authorities said yesterday that the total number of hostages in Gaza is 184, including 14 foreigners and 80 Israelis with dual citizenship.