Arab States, EU Agree on Need for Two-State Solution to Gaza Crisis

27 November 2023, Spain, Barcelona: (L-R) Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and Secretary-General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit pose for a family photo after meeting in Barcelona to discuss ways to end the conflict in Gaza. (SPA)
27 November 2023, Spain, Barcelona: (L-R) Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and Secretary-General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit pose for a family photo after meeting in Barcelona to discuss ways to end the conflict in Gaza. (SPA)
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Arab States, EU Agree on Need for Two-State Solution to Gaza Crisis

27 November 2023, Spain, Barcelona: (L-R) Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and Secretary-General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit pose for a family photo after meeting in Barcelona to discuss ways to end the conflict in Gaza. (SPA)
27 November 2023, Spain, Barcelona: (L-R) Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and Secretary-General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit pose for a family photo after meeting in Barcelona to discuss ways to end the conflict in Gaza. (SPA)

Arab states and the European Union agreed at a meeting in Spain on Monday that a two-state solution was the answer to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, with EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell saying the Palestinian Authority should rule Gaza.

Borrell said all EU members attending the meeting of Mediterranean nations in Barcelona and almost all attendees overall had agreed on the need for a two-state solution.

The Palestinian Authority must hold elections and improve its functioning but is the only "viable solution" to the future leadership of Gaza, currently run by Hamas, to avoid a "power vacuum", he said.

A current four-day truce is the first halt in fighting in the seven weeks since Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 240 hostages back into Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

In response to that attack, Israel bombarded the enclave and mounted a ground offensive in the north. Some 14,800 Palestinians have been killed, Gaza health authorities say, and hundreds of thousands displaced.

Hamas said it wanted to extend the truce. An Israeli official told Reuters the onus was on Hamas to produce a new list of 10 hostages it could free on Tuesday in exchange for that becoming an additional truce day.

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

A two-state solution envisages a state for the 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 a 2007 power struggle with Hamas, had no need to return to Gaza, adding: "We have been there all the time, we have 60,000 public workers there."

The three were speaking at the conclusion of a short meeting of the Forum for the Union of the Mediterranean in Barcelona, a 43-member grouping of European, North African and Middle Eastern countries.

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.

Borrell said he hoped the truce that began on Friday would last "a few more days".

Palestinian Foreign Minister al-Maliki said Qatar, Egypt, the United States and the European Union were working to extend the truce, warning if it was not extended, the death toll would double because Gaza's population was now concentrated in the south of the strip.

"We have an opportunity today that will end tonight, to extend the ceasefire... I count on the support of my colleagues... for us to all leave here with a loud and strong voice that can be heard in all parts of the world: no to the war, yes to the ceasefire," he said.

Jordan's Safadi added, however: "Some among us are still refusing to call for a ceasefire... We demand it be implemented immediately."



Lebanon State Media Says Israel Blows Up Houses on Border

This handout satellite picture provided by Planet Labs PBC and dated October 24, 2024 shows a view of the village of the southern Lebanese village of Mais al-Jabal on the border with Israel, amid the ongoing war between Hezbollah and Israel. (Photo by Planet Labs PBC / AFP)
This handout satellite picture provided by Planet Labs PBC and dated October 24, 2024 shows a view of the village of the southern Lebanese village of Mais al-Jabal on the border with Israel, amid the ongoing war between Hezbollah and Israel. (Photo by Planet Labs PBC / AFP)
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Lebanon State Media Says Israel Blows Up Houses on Border

This handout satellite picture provided by Planet Labs PBC and dated October 24, 2024 shows a view of the village of the southern Lebanese village of Mais al-Jabal on the border with Israel, amid the ongoing war between Hezbollah and Israel. (Photo by Planet Labs PBC / AFP)
This handout satellite picture provided by Planet Labs PBC and dated October 24, 2024 shows a view of the village of the southern Lebanese village of Mais al-Jabal on the border with Israel, amid the ongoing war between Hezbollah and Israel. (Photo by Planet Labs PBC / AFP)

Lebanese state media said the Israeli army on Friday detonated explosives planted inside houses in three border villages that have been battered by the Israel-Hezbollah war.

Hezbollah says it is engaged in fighting Israeli forces in the area, more than a month into an Israeli ground invasion aimed at pushing the Iran-backed group away from the border.

"Since this morning, the Israeli enemy's army has been carrying out bombing operations inside the villages of Yaroun, Aitaroun and Maroun al-Ras in the Bint Jbeil area, with the aim of destroying residential homes there," the official National News Agency said.

Israeli forces also conducted a raid in the nearby town of Bint Jbeil, NNA said, after Hezbollah said it targeted Israeli troops in the flashpoint border region, AFP reported.

Hezbollah said on Thursday it had "ambushed" Israeli ground forces attempting to infiltrate Yaroun.

The group has claimed eight operations since Wednesday targeting Israeli troops on the outskirts of Maroun al-Ras.

Friday's explosions are the latest in a string of similar incidents that have impacted the border area.

According to NNA, Israeli troops blew up buildings in at least seven border villages last month.

Footage verified by AFP on Monday showed massive blasts that ripped through Mais al-Jabal and reduced homes to rubble.

Israel's Channel 12 last month broadcast footage appearing to show one of its presenters blow up a building while embedded with soldiers in the village of Aita al-Shaab.