'A Palestinian state, or what else? Israeli opposition cannot remove the question from the table'
For more than a decade, after the collapse of the peace process launched by the Oslo Accords in 1993, politics faded from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Negotiation gave way, at regular intervals, to the clash of arms, culminating in the explosion of violence on October 7, 2023, and the events that followed in Gaza, which had already been under a harsh Israeli blockade since 2007.
The cost of international inaction – waiting for a renewed Palestinian leadership and an Israeli government willing to consider a potential diplomatic initiative to emerge out of nowhere – is now clear. It is counted in hundreds of Israeli deaths, tens of thousands of Palestinian deaths and tens of billions of dollars: the estimated sum needed to make Gaza viable and livable again, if the war ever stops ravaging the narrow strip. This inaction has also led to a deterioration of how Israel's Western allies are perceived, as they are unable to defend the same principles when it comes to the war in Ukraine as they are in the conflict unfolding in the Palestinian territories.
Such a horrific toll should have brought diplomacy back to the forefront, yet the conference jointly organized by France and Saudi Arabia, from June 17 to 20 at the United Nations, to revive the two-state solution – that is, the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel – has mainly fueled doubts. At this stage, it is unclear how the United States, without whom nothing has ever been possible regarding Israel, views the initiative, or whether the conference is aiming for any tangible result without which it would amount to failure.
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France 24
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LeMonde
2 hours ago
- LeMonde
Netanyahu says Israel struck the 'heart of Iran's military nuclear program,' killing the Revolutionary Guards chief
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France 24
4 hours ago
- France 24
Attacking Iran, Israel brazenly defies 'man of peace' Trump
Hours later, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, one of Trump's closest international allies, brazenly defied his advice by unleashing a major military campaign described as a "preemptive" strike against Iran's nuclear program. The attack marks only the latest setback for Trump's lofty goal set out at the start of his second term of being a "man of peace." Russian President Vladimir Putin, with whom Trump has also boasted a warm relationship, has rebuffed his overtures on a ceasefire with Ukraine. And Israel resumed another massive offensive in Gaza after talks bogged down on extending a ceasefire with Hamas reached with Trump's support at the end of his predecessor Joe Biden's term. Trump's friend and roving envoy Steve Witkoff -- who has negotiated in all three crises -- had been set to meet Iranian officials again Sunday in Oman. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a statement made clear the United States was not involved in attacking Iran and warned Tehran not to retaliate against US troops in the region. Rubio said that Israel advised that it attacked out of "self-defense," but conspicuously did not say if the United States agreed. Trump, hours before the strikes, doubled down with a social media post saying he remained "committed to a diplomatic resolution" on Iran. Netanyahu has described Iran's cleric-run government, which backs Hamas, as an existential threat and already last year ordered strikes that knocked out its air defenses. "We've clearly seen a fork in the road in the American and Israeli approaches to this problem set," said Dana Stroul, a former senior Pentagon official who is a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. "These strikes are going to disrupt and delay and degrade Iran's nuclear program. The question, I think, is whether or not the United States and Israel in the future are going to work together on what to do to maximize the time that's put back on the clock," she said. Increasingly at odds Stroul noted that rifts had been building between Israel and Trump, who last month agreed to remove sanctions on Syria after former Islamist guerrilla Ahmed al-Sharaa swept into power. Trump embraced the new Syrian leader after appeals on a tour of Gulf Arab monarchies -- which have also backed diplomacy on Iran. In Qatar last month, Trump said after meeting the emir that he believed a deal was in sight with Iran and that there would be no "nuclear dust" over the region. Despite growing disagreements, Israel enjoys robust support in Trump's right-wing base. The Trump administration in recent days has again taken lonely positions to back Israel, with the United States casting one of the only votes at the UN General Assembly against a Gaza ceasefire resolution and criticizing top allies, including Britain, for imposing sanctions on far-right Israeli ministers. Justin Logan, director of defense and foreign policy at the libertarian Cato Institute, said the Israeli attack will "destroy US diplomatic efforts" on Iran and called for Trump to reject any US military role in protecting Israel from retaliation. "Israel has the right to choose its own foreign policy. At the same time, it has the responsibility to bear the costs of that policy," he said. But lawmakers in Trump's Republican Party quickly rallied behind Israel. Senator Tom Cotton said that the United States should "back Israel to the hilt, all the way," and topple Iran's Islamic Republic if it targets US troops. Trump's Democratic rivals, who mostly backed his diplomacy on Iran, were aghast at Israel's action on the eve of new US-Iran talks. "Israel's alarming decision to launch airstrikes on Iran is a reckless escalation that risks igniting regional violence," said Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Forces Committee.
