EU foreign policy chief says Palestinian state only way to peace
The EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, has said he wants to start a European-Arab initiative to revive a peace process, with the ultimate aim being a two-state solution.
Speaking at a news conference in Beirut on Saturday held with the Lebanese prime minister, Najib Mikati, Borrell was speaking amid wider diplomatic efforts to stop the conflict in Gaza spreading to elsewhere in the Middle East.
“The only way is the creation of a Palestinian state,” he said, adding that the prospect of a state would offer a “horizon of hope” to the Palestinians.
Borrell added: “It is imperative to avoid regional escalation in the Middle East. It is absolutely necessary to avoid Lebanon being dragged into a regional conflict,” AFP reported.
“I am sending this message to Israel, too: nobody will win from a regional conflict,” he said, adding: “I think that the war can be prevented, has to be avoided and diplomacy can prevail.”
Since 7 October, Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah has exchanged frequent cross-border fire with Israeli forces. On Tuesday, a strike in a Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut killed Hamas’s deputy leader, Saleh al-Arouri.
Israel has not claimed responsibility while a US official told AFP that Israel was behind the strike.
Borrell said he would also visit Saudi Arabia on Sunday to discuss steps to secure peace across the region.