Arab States Press For Establishment Of Palestinian State, Will Not Rebuild Gaza Unless Israel Agrees To Allow it
by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – A coalition of Arab states is pressing the United States and its Western allies to convince Israel to consider a renewed plan for Palestinian statehood that would result in a permanent ceasefire in the current war against Hamas, Fortune reports. Led by Saudi Arabia, the coalition includes Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.
Two senior Arab officials who spoke to Fortune on condition of anonymity said the coalition’s proposal builds on the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, which was re-endorsed at the Arab League Summits of 2007 and 2017. Rejected by Israel as a “non-starter” at the time and ever since, the 2002 peace initiative includes the offer of normalized relations between the Arab world and Israel in return for a complete withdrawal by Israel from the West Bank, Gaza, the Golan Heights, and Lebanon). The 2002 initiative further required a “just settlement” of the Palestinian “refugee” problem based on UN Resolution 194 and the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
The revived plan is expected to propose a Palestinian state along the lines of borders that existed prior to the 1967 Six-Day War and measures such as the dismantling of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
Notably, the Fortune sources said Arab states will not help to rebuild Gaza unless Israel commits to advancing a Palestinian state.
Israel’s government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not expected to accept this or even a more moderate plan for Palestinian statehood. “For one, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted any halt in Israel’s campaign to destroy Hamas in response to the group’s Oct. 7 atrocities will be temporary, as “total victory” is the only goal,” Fortune noted in its report.
Indeed, Netanyahu told CBS News on Sunday: “[Palestinian statehood] will not be shoved down our throats.”
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