The clueless tourists who approached the impressive modernist site of Sant Pau this Monday came across streets full of Mossos d'Esquadra. The VII Forum of the Union for the Mediterranean, an intergovernmental organization aimed at promoting development and stability in the region, was held there, in a meeting that was supposed to celebrate its fifteenth anniversary, but whose content was absorbed by the war between Hamas and Israel. , the only point on the agenda.
The meeting, co-chaired by Josep Borrell, High Representative for Foreign Affairs of the European Union, and Ayman Safadi, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Jordan, addressed the question of how to contribute to peace between Palestinians and Israelis through two main points. : the extension of the truce and the recovery of the two-state solution. However, the impact of the meeting was limited by the absence of Israel at the meeting, which regretted the change in the meeting's agenda.
At the meeting there were “agreements and disagreements,” according to Safadi, but everyone agreed on the need to respect international law, the entry of humanitarian aid to Gaza, the cessation of hostilities -although under different intonations-, and the recovery of the two-state solution to channel the end of the conflict. In this sense, Borrell pointed out the importance of “promoting a political agreement that allows us to make what we have so often proclaimed a reality,” to prevent the loss of civilian lives from continuing “generation after generation and funeral after funeral.”
Borrell presented four steps to follow. The first would be the already approved extension of the truce between Hamas and Israel, allowing the release of all the hostages and a definitive ceasefire. Second, the “recolonization” of Gaza by Israel must be avoided and “illegal colonization” in the West Bank rejected. The return of the Palestinian National Authority to Gaza would be the last point.
Both the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, and Josep Borrell defended the role of the ANP in the management of Gaza once the conflict ends. As the Palestinian Foreign Minister had done previously, also at the meeting, Borrell recalled that, although Hamas took power in the 2006 elections, it is the ANP that has guaranteed public services in Gaza.
Ruling out the options of Israel occupying Gazan territory, some Arab country taking over or “leaving it abandoned” to its fate, Borrell described the ANP as the most legitimate political actor to assume control of Gaza. However, the European diplomat acknowledged that the organization led by Mahmud Abbas can be "perfected and improved" and that there should be elections "as soon as possible."
Borrell appealed for the support of the international community to prevent a power vacuum from turning Gaza into a “cradle for more violence and more terrorism”, of which Europe would be the first to suffer the consequences. The most forceful position in the press conference after the meeting came from Jordanian Ayman Safadi, who called for a ceasefire and the provision of more immediate humanitarian aid.
Safadi called Israel's attacks “flagrant aggression,” while other colleagues, he said, spoke only of “self-defense.” According to him, “war crimes are being committed” and what is happening in Gaza falls within the “legal definition of genocide.” That is why he criticized that some countries refused to call for a ceasefire.
The diplomatic meeting has been affected by the diplomatic controversy between Spain and Israel in recent days, but references to Israeli accusations of Pedro Sánchez's collaboration with terrorism have been limited. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, explained that the Israeli ambassador in Madrid has been summoned to express a “blatant rejection” of the accusations against Sánchez and to ask for “guarantees” that they will not be repeated. Albares also insisted that the words of the Israeli Government against Sánchez are “unacceptable” and “completely false,” and it will be Ambassador Radian-Gordon who will have to “give explanations” for them.
