Israel-Gaza war:
Which international actors can play peacemaker?
With the outbreak of an intensified war between Israel and Palestine, can mediation efforts help?
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said bombardment has “just started” after at least 900 Israelis were killed in the unprecedented Hamas attack on Saturday.
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More than 700 Palestinians have been killed in three days of intense bombing, with 2.4 million Palestinians living there having nowhere to go amid an Israeli land, sea and air blockade.
- I think it’s early to talk about mediation, because [right now] Israel is reacting based on anger and revenge,” Professor Mahjoob Zweiri, director of the Gulf Studies Center at Qatar University, told Al Jazeera.
- The possible outcomes of tomorrow’s meeting remain unclear.Zweiri says the Arab League has no role to play.
- “It’s a reflection of the fragmented Arab governments. It has no tools.”
- Observers have wondered if Chi\na will try to promote itself as a regional peacemaker after it successfully brokered a rapprochement between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
- In April, the country’s then-foreign minister, Qin Gang, told the Israeli and Palestinian foreign ministers that China was ready to facilitate efforts towards peace talks.
- China supports a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, based on pre-1967 borders and with East Jerusalem as the capital of a sovereign Palestinian state.
- It has also advocated for international development assistance for Palestinians.
Egypt
Cairo has acted as a mediator between Israel and Palestinian groups in previous conflicts but Zweiri says it will try to distance itself from the escalating situation in Gaza.
“They [Egypt] want to distance themselves from what is happening because … Egypt is going to elections,” he said.
Europe
- The European Union foreign ministers are scheduled to hold an extraordinary meeting on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the war.
- Spain’s Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albarez said such a move was unacceptable and cooperation must continue.
“We cannot confuse Hamas, which is on the European Union’s list of terrorist groups, with the Palestinian population, the Palestinian Authority, or the United Nations organizations present on the ground,” he told Spanish radio station Cadena SER on Tuesday morning.
Iran
Its Supreme Leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei said on Tuesday: “We of course defend Palestinians. We kiss the forehead and arms of the brave fighters and youths of Palestine, yes it’s true.
“But those who say non-Palestinians were behind what was done… they do not know Palestinians well. They have underestimated the nation of Palestine. That is their mistake.”
Qatar
“Our priorities are to end the bloodshed, release the prisoners and make sure the conflict is contained with no regional spillover,” foreign ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari told Reuters.
However, an Israeli official told Reuters: “There are no negotiations under way.”
Russia
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said creating a Palestinian state was the “most reliable” solution for peace in Israel and that fighting alone would not ensure security.
Turkey
- If peace talks are to start, Zweiri believes Turkey and Qatar will both have an active role.
- “I’m assuming this because they both have communications with Hamas and Israel, and we have to look at who is capable of being able to talk to both sides.”
UN agencies
UN Middle East peace envoy Tor Wennesland met Hamas officials in Gaza and posted on X: “The United Nations is talking to and working with all concerned to improve the lives of people in Gaza, particularly the most vulnerable.”
The United States
- Al Jazeera’s senior correspondent John Hendren, reporting from Washington, DC, said talks of diplomacy and of a two-state solution are on hold for now.
- Washington has said it wants a future Palestinian state, but it has failed to convince Israel, to which it gives $3bn in annual military aid, to honor the agreements it signed with the Palestinians.
Zweiri said the US reaction has been shocking. “They [the US] are basically allowing Israel to do what they want in Gaza.”
Francesca Albanese - United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories Diana Buttu - a lawyer and the former spokeswoman for the Palestine Liberation Organization Gideon Levy - a columnist at the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, and author of 'The Punishment of Gaza' - Diana Buttu - a lawyer and the former spokeswoman for the Palestine Liberation Organization
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