War between Israel and Hamas: “We will need a state for the Palestinians,” France confirms

“We will need a state for the Palestinians,” Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjournet confirmed this Monday. He said on Saturday he had already reaffirmed his commitment to the “only viable solution.” “France will remain true to its commitment to achieve this goal,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

The United States and Europe favor a two-state solution that is opposed by the Israeli government, which has been fighting Palestinian Hamas in the Gaza Strip since the deadly Oct. 7 attack by an Islamist movement in Israel.

“Alarming” statements

Benjamin Netanyahu believes that Israel must maintain “control over the security of Palestinian territory.” Israel must “ensure that Gaza no longer poses a threat” and this demand “contradicts the demand for Palestinian sovereignty,” the Israeli prime minister explained during a telephone interview Friday with US President Joe Biden, according to the Palestinian Authority office. Prime Minister. Statements that the head of French diplomacy called “alarming.”

The two-state solution, long considered a utopia, has returned to the fore since the conflict began. This will likely require building on the 1967 borders, which represent the demilitarization of a future Palestinian state that would extend into the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. At the same time, the preservation of Israeli settlement blocs adjacent to the Green Line (demarcation) in the West Bank, in exchange for the return of part of Israeli territory.

But there are many obstacles to the solution, which must be agreed upon by Hamas, which has taken control of the Gaza Strip since 2007 and is excluded from discussions because many countries consider it a terrorist group. On the other hand, Mahmoud Abbas’s Palestinian Authority lacks credibility, and finally Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right allies oppose the decision on principle.

The unprecedented attack on October 7 killed 1,140 people, most of them civilians, according to AFP. Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip have killed some 25,000 people, the vast majority of them women, children and teenagers, according to the Hamas Health Ministry.