The US Doctrine to Form a Palestinian State

Recent statements made by US officials have outlined a possible path to establish a Palestinian state based on certain criteria and mechanisms.

On Thursday, US President Joe Biden said that his country is "actively pursuing the establishment as an independent Palestinian state," adding that Washington is also working for peace and the return of hostages from Gaza.

Reports indicated that the Biden administration is considering several options to recognize a demilitarized independent Palestinian state as part of efforts to determine the situation after the end of the Israeli war on Gaza and the nature of the legitimate authority.

- Three tracks

The Biden administration has begun to formulate and take several steps in the Middle East within the framework of the new "Biden Doctrine" in the region, which is a multi-pronged approach.

It aims to ensure that the current crisis in the Middle East does not develop into a comprehensive disaster.

Prominent US journalist Thomas Friedman unveiled the new Biden doctrine for the Middle East in his op-ed in the New York Times.

In his article, Friedman discussed that the administration must have "a strong and resolute stance on Iran, including a robust military retaliation against Iran's proxies and agents in the region."

The second track, as determined by Friedman, would be an "unprecedented US diplomatic initiative to promote a Palestinian state" as soon as possible, which would involve some form of recognition of a demilitarized Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza.

However, that can only be achieved "once Palestinians had developed a set of defined, credible institutions and security capabilities to ensure that this state was viable and that it could never threaten Israel."

On the third track would be a vastly expanded alliance between the Palestinians, Israel, the US, and regional countries to ensure the continuation and success of the plan.

On Wednesday, Axios reported that Secretary of State Antony Blinken asked the State Department to conduct a review and present policy options on possible US and international recognition of a Palestinian state after the war in Gaza.

Some inside the Biden administration are now thinking that "recognition of a Palestinian state should possibly be the first step in negotiations to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."

However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the idea of creating a Palestinian state, adding that this conflict “is not about the absence of a (Palestinian) state but about the existence of a state, the Jewish state."

In press statements, Netanyahu asserted he would not stop the war until total victory, meaning a demilitarized Gaza, warning that "ending the war before the goals are achieved would broadcast a message of weakness."

- Sanctions against settlers

The US issued on Thursday an executive order targeting Israeli settlers in the West Bank who have been attacking Palestinians.

In the order, Biden said that extremist settler violence in the West Bank had "reached intolerable levels and constituted a serious threat to the peace, security, and stability of the West Bank and Gaza, Israel, and the broader Middle East region."

US experts said the order targets persons accused of attacks or "terrorist actions" that undermine "peace, stability, and security" in the West Bank, where settlers have increased their attacks against Palestinians.

The first round of sanctions under the new executive order includes four Israeli settlers who the US said were directly involved in attacks against Palestinians and systematic acts that led to the forced displacement of Palestinian communities.

The settlers' assets and bank accounts in the US will be frozen, and no one will be allowed to trade or transfer their money through the US financial system.

Last December, Washington imposed visa bans on several dozen Israeli settlers believed to be involved in attacks against Palestinians, preventing them from traveling to the US.

The move came as Biden was heading to Michigan, the pivotal state in the upcoming presidential elections on Nov. 4, inhabited by a large number of US citizens of Arab origin.

Arab-US citizens expressed anger over Biden's support of Israel.

Commenting on the sanctions, a top US official said the US President has always expressed his concern over Israeli settler violence.

The official, who asked not to be named, warned that these actions constitute a serious threat to the peace, security, and stability of the West Bank, Israel, and the Middle East.

He explained that settler attacks undermined the establishment of a Palestinian state in the long run.

The West Bank is home to over 3,000,000 Palestinians and about 490,000 Israeli settlers residing in illegal settlements under international law.

Italy plans to send an ambassador back to Syria after a decade-long absence, the country’s foreign minister said, in a diplomatic move that could spark divisions among European Union allies.

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, speaking in front of relevant parliamentary committees Thursday, announced Rome’s intention to re-establish diplomatic ties with Syria to prevent Russia from monopolizing diplomatic efforts in the Middle Eastern country.

Moscow is considered a key supporter of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who has remained in power despite widespread Western isolation and civilian casualties since the start of Syria’s civil war in March 2011.

Peaceful protests against the Assad government — part of the so-called “Arab Spring” popular uprisings that spread across some of the Middle East — were met by a brutal crackdown, and the uprising quickly spiraled into a full-blown civil war.

The conflict was further complicated by the intervention of foreign forces on all sides and a rising militancy, first by al-Qaida-linked groups and then the ISIS group until its defeat on the battlefield in 2019.

The war, which has killed nearly half a million people and displaced half the country’s pre-war population of 23 million, is now largely frozen, despite ongoing low-level fighting.

The country is effectively carved up into areas controlled by the Damascus-based government of Assad, various opposition groups and Syrian Kurdish forces.

In the early days of the conflict, many Western and Arab countries cut off relations with Syria, including Italy, which has since managed Syria-related diplomacy through its embassy in Beirut.

However, since Assad has regained control over most of the territory, neighboring Arab countries have gradually restored relations, with the most symbolically significant move coming last year when Syria was re-admitted to the Arab League.

Tajani said Thursday the EU’s policy in Syria should be adapted to the “development of the situation,” adding that Italy has received support from Austria, Croatia, Greece, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Cyprus and Slovakia.

However, the US and allied countries in Europe have largely continued to hold firm in their stance against Assad’s government, due to concerns over human rights violations.

The US Doctrine to Form a Palestinian State