More than 60 nations sent representatives to Brussels Monday for talks with Palestinian representatives on stability, security and long-term peace in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, as global attention largely remains focused in the Middle East on the ongoing crises in Iran and Lebanon.
There’s renewed momentum in the 27-nation European Union to put meaningful pressure on Israel over its military campaigns in the Middle East after the election defeat of Viktor Orbán in Hungary, a staunch ally of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Hungary’s next leader, Péter Magyar, has already indicated he would act differently from Orbán on Israel. The carnage in Lebanon and Iran, alongside the continued violence and misery in Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, is driving some leaders critical of Netanyahu, like Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, to push for decisive action.
Ongoing attacks by Israeli settlers in the West Bank and continued devastation in Gaza have dimmed the prospect for a two-state solution, said Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot ahead of the meeting Monday. He is co-hosting the meeting with the EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas.
“We observe without naivety that the two-state solution is being made more difficult by the day,” Prévot said. “But Belgium and many European and Arab partners continue to believe that this remains the only realistic path to a lasting peace, for Israelis, for Palestinians and for the stability of the entire region.”
Nikolay Mladenov, the director of the Board of Peace created by United States President Donald Trump, and a well-known figure in Brussels, also attended the meeting.
Palestinians in the West Bank say that Israel has used the cover of the Iran war to tighten its grip over the territory, as settler attacks surge and the military imposes additional wartime restrictions on movement, citing security.
