Spain to host meeting of European and Muslim countries on Palestinian statehood

The foreign ministers of several Muslim and European countries will meet in Madrid on Friday to discuss how to implement a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine issue, the Spanish and Norwegian governments have announced.

Reuters has reported that Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares will host the meeting, which will be attended by some of his European counterparts, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and members of the Arab-Islamic Contact Group for Gaza.

The two-state solution set out in the 1991 Madrid Conference and the 1993-95 Oslo Accords has long been seen by the international community as the best way to settle the decades-long conflict. However, the peace process has been moribund for years.

The search for a peaceful solution has been given new urgency by Israel’s 11-month-long war in the Gaza Strip against the Palestinians, the bloodiest episode yet in the overall conflict. There has also been an escalation of violence against the Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

Spain, Norway and Ireland formally recognised a unified Palestinian state on 28 May. Ruled by the Palestinian Authority, the state comprises the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, with East Jerusalem as its capital. With the three European countries included, 146 of the 193 member-states of the UN now recognise Palestinian statehood.

Albares hosted a diplomatic meeting with the Gaza Contact Group on 29 May in which participants discussed the next steps towards actively implementing the two-state solution.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has repeatedly described the co-existence of two sovereign states on the territory of the former Mandatory Palestine as the only viable path to peace in the region. The West Bank, including East Jerusalem, was captured by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War and has been occupied ever since, with illegal Jewish settlements complicating the issue. Israel annexed East Jerusalem in 1980 in a move generally not recognised internationally. The occupation state insists that guarantees about its security are of paramount importance.

In an interview with Reuters, Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa will also attend the meeting in Madrid. Issues that need resolving, explained Barth Eide, include the “actual establishment of the Palestinian state or a very credible path to it” and the strengthening of Palestinian institutions.

They also include the demobilisation of Hamas — which was the de facto government in Gaza prior to the war, having won the 2006 Palestinian Legislative Council election — “so that it is out of business as a military actor.”

The normalisation of ties between Israel and some other states, notably Saudi Arabia, is also important for Israel, said the Norwegian minister.

The Gaza Contact Group is an initiative of the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. It includes countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkiye.

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