Palestinian state 'best guarantee' of Israel's security, EU foreign policy chief says

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Monday that the establishment of a Palestinian state would be the best way of ensuring Israel's security.

The EU's top diplomat told a meeting of foreign ministers from the EU that he had drawn "a fundamental political conclusion" from his discussions across the Middle East.

"I think that the best guarantee for Israel's security is the creation of a Palestinian state," Borrell said in a written summary of the EU meeting.

Borrell insisted Israel should not occupy Gaza after the war.

”Despite the huge challenges, we have to advance our reflections on the stabilisation of Gaza and the future Palestinian state," he said. 

He added that “increased extremists and settlers’ violence against Palestinians” in the occupied West Bank raised the possibility of escalation in fighting outside of the Gaza Strip.