A year after the war Israel launched on the Gaza Strip- a genocidal war of ethnic cleansing, as attested to by the International Court of Justice- a Saudi initiative has given rise to the Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution with the aim of establishing a Palestinian state. With the substantial attendance at the first official meeting, a strategic answer was given to the question that the world had been preoccupied with since the early days of the Gaza war... the question of the day after and what it should look like.
Posing the question was not only premature but first and foremost futile, as it addressed the branches without getting to the root of the problem. This approach seemingly sees the war on Gaza, which has evolved into seven wars that cut across the Middle East as a whole and have shown signs of escalating into an international/regional war, as nothing more than a component of the broader conflagration in the region, or a manifestation of what the Americans unfortunately called Israel’s legitimate right to defend its security and existence- the terms the US uses to characterize everything Israel does, from killing to destruction and occupation.
As a result of the ongoing war and the severe losses it has entailed on all fronts, the arrangements proposed for the day after have gone beyond how Gaza is to be administered after the war ends. The developments of the past year have highlighted the urgency of the need to address root causes, changing post-war imperatives. It is no longer a question of the administration in Gaza, the implementation of UN Resolutions on the war in southern Lebanon, or addressing or containing the escalation between Iran and Israel. Instead, current initiatives seek to develop arrangements and reach settlements that pull the region out of an endless cycle of wars rooted in the Palestinian cause. Even if it may not be the primary reason for most wars, it is used as a pretext in all of them.
The establishment of this Global Alliance is logical and necessary. Indeed, there is an international consensus regarding its principles and objectives; it is fully aligned with international law, the UN charter, and UN resolutions. Moreover, the world needs peace and stability in this crucial region. That is the broad context. However, a new track had been taken before the Gaza war and its expansion, and is likely to resume after the war ends: the formal normalization of relations between Arab states and Israel. This process had run into a Saudi wall, but now discussions and progress in this direction have resumed.
The Kingdom did not set insurmountable conditions for the normalization being pushed by the United States. Instead, it called for the implementation of demands endorsed by the world before and after the normalization process: shifting the question of a Palestinian state and a two-state solution from discussions in the media to a tangible process. In fact, the "two-state solution" was on the verge of becoming folklore mentioned only on special occasions.
The Global Alliance will move forward on paved roads, and its goals will not be achieved as easily as its principles have been formulated and agreed upon. Essential elements are needed to guarantee its success and allow it to avert the fate of previous initiatives. Two pillars are required to build it:
The first pillar is the Palestinian pillar, which cannot underpin the aspiration of the Global Alliance if the current division, fragmentation, conflicting agendas, and power struggles remain. Resolving these problems has become particularly critical following the additional burdens engendered by the war on Gaza, which are too heavy for even mountains to bear.
The second pillar is the Arab role, which should not be limited to mere support and endorsement. Saudi Arabia is addressing this by calling for an Arab-Islamic Summit on the matter.
As for the Palestinian pillar, the world has been exhausted by its attempts to end Palestinian division, fragmentation, and conflicting agendas. Reinforcing this pillar requires urgent and immediate action. One solution that has been proposed is that the Palestinian National Council hold an exceptional unified session attended by all factions and convened at the headquarters of the Arab League in Cairo, in which unity is declared and a single national program that provides crucial support for the Global Alliance is adopted.
A new phase defined by the establishment of the Palestinian state is beginning in earnest. In parallel, the pillars need to be maintained and strengthened.
