The establishment of a Palestinian state remains only a wish

After twenty-two months of Israel's war against the terrorist movement Hamas, which brutally attacked Israel on October 7, the previous year, it seems to have reached a critical point. Gaza is exposed to a humanitarian crisis caused by the insufficient supply of food aid, and Israel faces increasing criticism from the international community for this.

This became the trigger for diplomatic efforts to accelerate the two-state solution, i.e. a state where Israel and an independent Palestinian state would exist side by side. The paradox is that negotiations on such a solution should have been buried for a long time, according to the Israelis, by the Hamas attack.

The wave of recognition of Palestine was started by France, which intends to do so at the UN General Assembly in September. After some hesitation, Britain also joined. On Tuesday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that his country would recognize Palestine unless the Israeli government took fundamental steps to end the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip and to conclude a ceasefire and achieve lasting peace.

Canada also joined in, defining its own conditions: reform of the Palestinian Authority and elections without the participation of Hamas.
The two-state solution conference, organized by France and Saudi Arabia with the participation of 125 countries, which took place this week at the UN in New York, sealed everything. Its three key conclusions are: the demand for the establishment of a demilitarized Palestinian state, the transfer of Hamas weapons to the Palestinian Authority, and the end of its rule in Gaza. The condemnation of Hamas for the October 7 attack by Arab countries is certainly a breakthrough.

But do Hamas leaders and the Israeli government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu want an end to the conflict? It does not seem so yet. A ceasefire agreement between them is not yet on the horizon.

Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon expressed Israel's position on the ongoing diplomatic maneuvers: "There are those in the world who fight terrorists and extremist forces, and then there are those who turn a blind eye to them or resort to concessions."
At the same time, it is still true that without the support of the United States, Israel's most powerful ally, it is impossible to imagine a peace process leading to a possible two-state solution. But US President Donald Trump refuses to do so, regardless of the fact that his closest American allies prefer him.

He even threatened Canada that if it recognizes Palestine as an independent state, he will impose more "favorite" tariffs on it. This absurdity only underlines the division of the West on the Palestinian cause.¨

But does Trump have any vision for a possible peace solution and governance of Gaza? Probably not, unless we count his quietly abandoned idea of rebuilding it into the "Côte d'Azur of the Middle East", but without the Palestinians.

The path to solving perhaps the world's most complex geopolitical problem, which has lasted for almost eight decades, therefore remains very hazy, despite the strong political gestures made in recent days.

Miloš Balabán, Právo Daily