Israeli-Palestinian peace requires 'fair political solutions': Qatar
Qatar said on Friday that economic development needed for
Israeli-Palestinian peace could not be achieved without “fair political
solutions” acceptable to Palestinians, referring to a US plan set to be
unveiled next month.
The White House will lay out the first part of President
Donald Trump’s long-awaited Israeli-Palestinian peace plan when it holds an
international conference in Bahrain in late June.
The plan, touted by Trump as the “deal of the century,” is
expected to encourage investment in the West Bank and Gaza Strip by Arab donor
countries before grappling with thorny political issues at the heart of the
conflict.
Palestinian officials have rebuked the US effort, which they
believe will be heavily biased in favor of Israel.
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry, in a statement, commented on the
upcoming conference: “Tackling these challenges requires sincerity of intent,
concerted efforts from regional and international players and appropriate
political conditions for economic prosperity.
“These conditions would not be achieved without fair
political solutions to the issues of the peoples of the region, especially the
Palestinian issue, in accordance with a framework acceptable to the brotherly
Palestinian people,” the statement said.
Qatar, a close US ally and home to its largest Middle East
air base, has poured millions of dollars into the impoverished Gaza strip over
the past year to boost its ailing economy, and this month pledged an additional
$480 million to support both Gaza and the West Bank.
The tiny Gulf state has not said whether it will attend the
June 25-26 conference in Manama, which is expected to include representatives
and business executives from Europe, the Middle East and Asia, including some
finance ministers.
Chief among the Palestinians’ concerns is whether the plan
will meet their core demand of calling for them to have an independent state in
the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip — territory Israel captured in
the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.
Trump’s Middle East team, led by his senior adviser and
son-in-law Jared Kushner, has declined to say whether the plan includes a
two-state solution, a central goal of other recent peace efforts that is widely
endorsed internationally.