The Israeli war on Gaza dominated the opening of the Union for the Mediterranean Forum held in Barcelona, Spain, where most of the speakers emphasized in their speeches the necessity of reaching a permanent ceasefire in the Strip and seriously seeking a two-state solution.

European Union foreign policy official Josep Borrell said that Israel had exceeded the limit of self-defense, and should not think about reoccupying Gaza, stressing the need to extend the humanitarian truce in the Strip and turn it into a “permanent” truce to allow work on a political solution to the conflict.

Borrell added, in his speech at the annual regional forum of the Union for the Mediterranean in its eighth edition, that the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) “is not just a group of individuals, but an idea and an ideology that cannot be killed.” He pointed out that the world will face what he described as unprecedented waves of extremism and violence if the war in Gaza is not stopped.

The European official stressed that "there will be no peace or security for Israel without a Palestinian state."

No to deporting Palestinians

For his part, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said that everyone must work to stop the war on Gaza once and for all, and that Israel "must understand that we will not accept the deportation of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip."

Al-Safadi pointed out in his speech at the forum that Tel Aviv did not work to achieve peace, did not implement the signed agreements, and undermined the two-state solution, and that the conflict did not begin on October 7, but rather is the result of the suffering of the Palestinians at the hands of Israel for decades.

In turn, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said that there is no alternative to the two-state solution to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The minister added in his speech at the forum that Israel bears responsibility for all the violence we see.

For his part, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Maliki said that there is no other solution but to end the war and extend the ceasefire to become permanent.

For his part, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albarez said that the international community must work to achieve the establishment of a Palestinian state, which will ensure peace in the region.

In his speech before the forum, Albarez stressed that any Israeli response must be in accordance with international law and not by killing thousands of innocent civilians indiscriminately.

Union for the Mediterranean

The Union for the Mediterranean is a Euro-Mediterranean partnership established in 2008, which aims to strengthen regional integration among Euro-Mediterranean countries, and establish peace, democracy and cooperation between the various parties in the region.

The Mediterranean Union includes 43 members, namely the European Union countries and the Arab Maghreb Union countries, in addition to Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Israel, Turkey, Monaco, Albania, Bosnia, Croatia and Montenegro.

The presidency of the Union is shared between a president belonging to the European Union and another who belongs to one of the Mediterranean partner countries, as the Paris Summit in 2008 stipulated that the principle of the presidency should be shared between the North and the South.

Union members meet regularly at the level of senior officials from each member country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as the European Union Foundation and the League of Arab States.

Source: Al Jazeera + agencies