There are “no good solutions” for Gaza, said Tomáš Pojar, security adviser and sherpa to Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, in an interview for Ekonom magazine, adding that no state is willing to take responsibility for the territory.
Pojar, the advisor to the Czech prime minister, is the former ambassador to Israel.
“No one from outside wants to govern Gaza. Nobody wants to have anything to do with it in principle, and especially not Israel and Egypt,” Pojar told Ekonom magazine.
“Gaza is simply a problem. There are no good solutions there. Only very bad ones and even worse ones,” he said, claiming it could be difficult to establish a functioning Palestinian leadership that is not under the direct control of terrorist regimes.
“I think that the Israelis may not withdraw from all of Gaza and will retain control of strategic places. Or they will try to create a buffer zone, a no man’s land. Maybe booby-trapped,” he added.
He also suggests that Europe’s willingness to provide financial support to Gaza will diminish because of the current situation.
“I would like to see the rich Arab states contributing primarily through the UN to the reconstruction of Gaza. So far, it has been mainly Western money: from Europe or America,” Pojar said. According to him, the rich Arab countries that currently benefit from high oil and gas prices could contribute more to the reconstruction of Gaza, which is currently under intense attack by the Israeli army.
Israel launched a military assault on Gaza following Hamas’s terrorist attack on Israeli citizens. On 7 October, Hamas killed some 1200 civilians and kidnapped around 200. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the Israeli offensive has left more than 19,000 dead, mainly women and children, with thousands more missing or injured.
As the death toll rises, the UN has repeatedly called for a ceasefire in the region, while the EU and US has upped its pressure on Israel.
However, attempts to issue a tougher statement at EU level have failed due to opposition from some pro-Israel countries such as Austria, Germany and the Czech Republic.
(Aneta Zachová | Euractiv.cz)
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Source: euractiv.com
