The Israeli leadership is not united on how to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Czech President Petr Pavel said on Monday after he meets with Israeli authorities.
Pavel arrived in Tel Aviv on Monday to talk with his counterpart Yitzhak Herzog, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana and war cabinet member Benny Gantz.
EU and Arab countries agree that a two-state solution is the only long-term solution for the ongoing conflict. Such a scenario envisages a state for the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip alongside Israel. However, Israeli authorities are not convinced about that, the Czech president said.
“Even the Israeli leadership is not united on this issue,” Pavel said during a press briefing in Israel.
“While President Herzog and I agree that the path to some form of Palestinian statehood is the long-term solution, Prime Minister Netanyahu, for example, is not sure that Palestinian statehood in particular could solve this problem,” Czech President added.
Pavel, a former head of NATO’s military committee, also outlined a vision of how the region could proceed before implementing a two-state solution.
“In parallel with the military operation that is underway, a process should begin to form a local, primarily regional coalition, backed by the Arab states,” Pavel said, adding that such a coalition should contribute to the administration of the Gaza Strip until the Palestinian Authority builds up sufficient capacity for deradicalisation of local citizens.
“We have touched on this (the future of Gaza) in almost every negotiation,” Pavel emphasised.
Czechia strongly supports Israel due to its historical ties. “We stand in solidarity with your right to fight terrorism and defend your population,” Pavel said in his meeting with Herzog, but also noted that he was concerned about the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.
Allegedly, at his initiative, the Czech government has allocated around €200,000 for humanitarian aid for Palestinian civilians through the World Food Programme and the same amount for Israeli medical organisations.
The Czech government has so far been cautious about humanitarian aid to Gaza and has stressed at the European level that it could be misused to benefit Hamas terrorists.
Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October 2023, which led to Israel striking back in an attack and total blockade of Gaza. The figures from the widely accepted Hamas-controlled Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip say Israeli attacks have killed over 24,000 Palestinians, the majority of whom are women and children, since the start of the conflict.
South Africa has lodged a case against Israel at the International Court of Justice with allegations of genocide, something Tel Aviv denies.
(Aneta Zachová | Euractiv.cz)
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Source: euractiv.com
