I am returning to the Middle East this coming week to continue working with our partners on how to achieve durable peace in the region, with lasting security for Israelis and Palestinians alike.
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) February 2, 2024
Day: February 2, 2024
Under the cover of war, backed by IDF soldiers and police, settler violence targeting Palestinian shepherding communities is surging.
These Israeli activists are putting themselves in harm’s way to protect themhttps://t.co/NfZduz8xgS
— Haaretz.com (@haaretzcom) February 2, 2024
paris — France’s foreign minister travels to the Middle East on Saturday to test ideas about reviving an Israeli-Palestinian political process after the Gaza war as Europe tries to play a role in a conflict that has deeply divided the European Union.
“There will be a discussion with his regional counterparts, especially Israeli and Palestinian counterparts, to see how to restart a political perspective in the region,” Deputy foreign ministry spokesperson Christophe Lemoine told reporters in a news briefing.
He was referring to Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne’s trip to Egypt, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian Territories and Lebanon, where he will also continue French efforts to defuse tensions between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
European Union member states are divided on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and their response has mostly been to try to ease the humanitarian situation in the enclave.
But with the U.S. administration largely backing Israel and entering an election period, there is a growing sentiment within the bloc that it has to use its relationship with Arab states to come up with a plan for when the moment comes.
The Gaza war was triggered by fighters from the Hamas militant group who stormed across the border fence into Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and capturing 253 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Since then, health authorities in Hamas-run Gaza say more than 27,000 Palestinians have been confirmed killed, thousands more wounded, the enclave left in ruins and many more displaced.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell last month sent a discussion paper to the EU’s 27 member countries, suggesting a roadmap to peace in the broader Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
That was received cautiously. But French diplomats say Paris is looking to work with its main EU partners to narrow differences on the issue so that they can then work with Arab states to put a joint proposal together for when there is a proper ceasefire.
“This time we have to be ready. What’s happened is too serious and so in a way it presents us with an opportunity. We looked at the past. We didn’t deliver as Europeans,” said a French diplomatic source.
ottowa, canada — Canada is looking at imposing sanctions on “extremist” settlers in the West Bank, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Friday, a day after the U.S. took action against four Israeli men accused of being involved in violence in the occupied territory.
“We are looking into how to make sure that those responsible for extremist violence or extreme settler violence in the West Bank are held to account for it,” Trudeau told reporters in Waterloo, Ontario.
Since the 1967 Middle East war, Israel has occupied the West Bank of the Jordan River, which Palestinians want as the core of an independent state. It has built Jewish settlements there that most countries deem illegal. Israel disputes this and cites historical and biblical ties to the land.
The West Bank saw its highest levels of unrest in decades during the 18 months before the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, and confrontations there have risen sharply since Israeli forces launched their retaliatory offensive on Gaza.
“Violence in the West Bank is absolutely unacceptable and puts at risk peace, stability in the region and the path toward the two-state solution that is absolutely essential,” Trudeau said.
Trudeau’s comments add to signs of the West’s growing displeasure with the policies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. On Thursday, U.S. President Joe Biden issued an executive order that aims to punish violent Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, where Palestinians envisage a future state.
Britain, the European Union and more than a dozen partner countries including Australia and Canada have called on Israel to take immediate and concrete steps to tackle settler violence in the West Bank.
Hamas militants killed about 1,200 people and captured about 250 hostages during the October 7 attack on Israel. The Israeli assault on the Hamas-governed Gaza Strip in response has killed more than 27,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry and flattened most of the densely populated enclave.
Trudeau has consistently said Israel has the right to defend itself after the Hamas assault, but he has gradually hardened his tone as the civilian death toll in Gaza has mounted.
paris — France’s foreign minister travels to the Middle East on Saturday to test ideas about reviving an Israeli-Palestinian political process after the Gaza war as Europe tries to play a role in a conflict that has deeply divided the European Union.
“There will be a discussion with his regional counterparts, especially Israeli and Palestinian counterparts, to see how to restart a political perspective in the region,” Deputy foreign ministry spokesperson Christophe Lemoine told reporters in a news briefing.
He was referring to Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne’s trip to Egypt, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian Territories and Lebanon, where he will also continue French efforts to defuse tensions between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
European Union member states are divided on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and their response has mostly been to try to ease the humanitarian situation in the enclave.
But with the U.S. administration largely backing Israel and entering an election period, there is a growing sentiment within the bloc that it has to use its relationship with Arab states to come up with a plan for when the moment comes.
The Gaza war was triggered by fighters from the Hamas militant group who stormed across the border fence into Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and capturing 253 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Since then, health authorities in Hamas-run Gaza say more than 27,000 Palestinians have been confirmed killed, thousands more wounded, the enclave left in ruins and many more displaced.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell last month sent a discussion paper to the EU’s 27 member countries, suggesting a roadmap to peace in the broader Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
That was received cautiously. But French diplomats say Paris is looking to work with its main EU partners to narrow differences on the issue so that they can then work with Arab states to put a joint proposal together for when there is a proper ceasefire.
“This time we have to be ready. What’s happened is too serious and so in a way it presents us with an opportunity. We looked at the past. We didn’t deliver as Europeans,” said a French diplomatic source.
ottowa, canada — Canada is looking at imposing sanctions on “extremist” settlers in the West Bank, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Friday, a day after the U.S. took action against four Israeli men accused of being involved in violence in the occupied territory.
“We are looking into how to make sure that those responsible for extremist violence or extreme settler violence in the West Bank are held to account for it,” Trudeau told reporters in Waterloo, Ontario.
Since the 1967 Middle East war, Israel has occupied the West Bank of the Jordan River, which Palestinians want as the core of an independent state. It has built Jewish settlements there that most countries deem illegal. Israel disputes this and cites historical and biblical ties to the land.
The West Bank saw its highest levels of unrest in decades during the 18 months before the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, and confrontations there have risen sharply since Israeli forces launched their retaliatory offensive on Gaza.
“Violence in the West Bank is absolutely unacceptable and puts at risk peace, stability in the region and the path toward the two-state solution that is absolutely essential,” Trudeau said.
Trudeau’s comments add to signs of the West’s growing displeasure with the policies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. On Thursday, U.S. President Joe Biden issued an executive order that aims to punish violent Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, where Palestinians envisage a future state.
Britain, the European Union and more than a dozen partner countries including Australia and Canada have called on Israel to take immediate and concrete steps to tackle settler violence in the West Bank.
Hamas militants killed about 1,200 people and captured about 250 hostages during the October 7 attack on Israel. The Israeli assault on the Hamas-governed Gaza Strip in response has killed more than 27,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry and flattened most of the densely populated enclave.
Trudeau has consistently said Israel has the right to defend itself after the Hamas assault, but he has gradually hardened his tone as the civilian death toll in Gaza has mounted.