European Council President António Costa reaffirms EU support for an independent Palestinian state as international efforts intensify to protect the two-state solution and rebuild Gaza…reports Arab Daily News Desk
European Council President António Costa has reaffirmed the European Union’s support for an independent Palestinian state, saying a two-state settlement remains the path to a lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
Speaking at a high-level international meeting on the two-state solution and the comprehensive peace plan for Gaza during the UN General Assembly in New York, Costa said the EU would continue working to preserve the possibility of two states living alongside each other in peace and security.
“The path to a just and lasting peace is clear: the two-state solution,” Costa said. He described the desired Palestinian state as “independent, democratic, contiguous, sovereign and viable”, living alongside Israel in peace, security and mutual recognition.
Costa’s remarks came as international efforts to establish a framework for Gaza’s post-war future intensified during the UN’s high-level week.
The Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution, which includes the EU and a broad group of countries and international organisations, held a ministerial meeting in New York on September 24. Nearly 100 states and organisations took part, according to a joint statement issued by the alliance’s co-chairs.
The alliance reaffirmed that the two-state solution is the internationally agreed framework for Palestinian self-determination and Israeli security. It also warned that developments in the occupied Palestinian territories were undermining the territorial basis required for a future Palestinian state.
Costa made a similar warning in his remarks, saying the two-state solution was being jeopardised by developments in the West Bank. He cited settler violence, displacement and what he described as de facto annexation.
The statement raised concerns over settlement expansion, demolitions, threats of forced displacement, annexation and settler violence in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. It called for such measures to be halted and for accountability over settler violence.
Costa made a similar warning in his remarks, saying the two-state solution was being jeopardised by developments in the West Bank. He cited settler violence, displacement and what he described as de facto annexation.
He also called for the Palestinian Authority to be strengthened through elections and renewed legitimacy, saying the EU supported Palestinian elections and wanted Israel to facilitate them.
On Gaza, Costa said the roadmap for the territory needed to be implemented, including the decommissioning of Hamas alongside an Israeli withdrawal, deployment of an international stabilisation force and the establishment of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza.
He said humanitarian access remained a major concern, with Gaza’s population facing another winter amid widespread destruction.
The EU is already a major financial and institutional supporter of the Palestinians. Costa said the bloc had been the largest donor to Palestinians since the 1990s and was prepared to expand the work of its civilian missions, including the EU Border Assistance Mission at Rafah and the EU Coordinating Office for Palestinian Police Support.
The European position comes amid wider international efforts to translate support for Palestinian statehood into a political process. UN Secretary-General António Guterres told the high-level meeting that the two-state solution, based on the pre-1967 lines and consistent with international law and relevant UN resolutions, remained the credible route to lasting peace and security.
Guterres warned that conditions necessary for an independent, democratic, contiguous, viable and sovereign Palestinian state were being systematically eroded across the occupied Palestinian territory. He also referred to findings by the International Court of Justice concerning unlawful and invalid annexation.
The Global Alliance called for Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, to remain a single Palestinian territory and said transitional arrangements should lead to reunification under a single legitimate Palestinian government. It also called for the consolidation of a Gaza ceasefire, the disarmament of Hamas and other armed groups, a full Israeli withdrawal and unhindered humanitarian assistance.
