The United States’ closest European and Arab partners met in Paris yesterday to work out how to shape Gaza’s post-war future, hours after Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire and prisoner-hostage swap proposed by US President Donald Trump.
“This is the best chance we have right now,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told reporters.
“But we need to work for the plan after (the war), so that it would be sustainable, and that’s why we are also here.”
The Paris meeting aims to look at how Gaza would be governed, how Trump’s Gaza plan would be implemented and assess other countries’ collective commitments to the process.
Opening the meeting, French President Emmanuel Macron said the aim was to work side by side with the United States’ plan and that the discussions in Paris were complementary to it.
The UN Assembly last month endorsed a declaration outlining steps towards a two-state solution, while also condemning Hamas and urging it to surrender and disarm.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ruled out endorsing an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel.
Among those attending are Qatar’s Prime Minister Shaikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who was one of the mediators of the ceasefire, as well as the Egyptian and Turkish foreign ministers, whose countries played a leading role in convincing Hamas to agree the deal.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had been due to attend, but cancelled.
The US in the end did not send a representative, although French officials insisted that co-ordination with Washington was close.
Trump’s plan calls for an international stabilisation force, and the ministers will also discuss issues such as the future governance of Gaza, aid, reconstruction and demilitarisation.
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