Two-state solution wins G20 support
Israel steps up strikes in Gaza’s Rafah, as mediators try to break deadlock
RIO DE JANEIRO/GAZA STRIP — G20 nations broadly back a twostate solution to the conflict in the Middle East, host Brazil said on Thursday after a meeting of top diplomats, adding to pressure on Israel to accept an independent Palestinian state.
The message from the meeting of G20 foreign ministers in Rio de Janeiro came a day after Israel’s parliament overwhelmingly voted for a proposal by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to oppose any “unilateral” recognition of a Palestinian state.
More than four months into Israel’s military campaign in the Gaza Strip, the 20 leading economies voiced “virtual unanimity for the two-state solution as the only possible solution” to the crisis, Brazil’s top diplomat Mauro Vieira told journalists at the close of the two-day meeting.
“The only reason (Vieira) didn’t simply say ‘unanimity’ is that not every speaker addressed the issue,” a Brazilian official said.
“Every (minister) that addressed the issue voiced support” for a two-state solution, “and it was a lot” of ministers, he said.
The meeting brought together top diplomats including US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.
“It was a strong request for a twostate solution,” Borrell told journalists. “The common denominator is that there’s not going to be peace, there’s not going to be sustainable security for Israel, unless the Palestinians have a clear political prospect to build (their) own state.”
Blinken, too, called for a “concrete pathway to a Palestinian state”, according to his prepared remarks.
With warnings of a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza mounting by the day, Israel faces growing international pressure for the creation of a Palestinian state — including from key ally the United States.
But Israel launched deadly airstrikes on Rafah on Thursday, after threatening to send troops in to hunt for Hamas militants in the southernmost Gaza city, where around 1.4 million Palestinians have sought refuge.
Another 97 people were killed over the past 24 hours in Hamasrun Gaza, the health ministry said.
Brett McGurk, White House coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, held talks with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in Tel Aviv, after meeting with other mediators in the Egyptian capital Cairo.
The Israeli Defense Ministry said the discussion with McGurk covered returning hostages, “operational developments in Hamas strongholds in central and southern Gaza, and humanitarian aid efforts”, as well as “the “importance of dismantling remaining Hamas battalions”.
US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told journalists that the discussions were “going well” so far.
Mediators, including the US, Qatar and Egypt, have tried and so far failed to broker a cease-fire and hostage release deal, but they have been making a new push to break the deadlock this past week.
On the brink of famine
Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh was in Cairo for truce talks earlier this past week, the group said.
More than four months of relentless fighting and bombardment have flattened much of Gaza and pushed its population of around 2.4 million to the brink of famine, the United Nations said.
Concern has centered on Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians are living in crowded shelters and makeshift camps where disease threatens.
Israel has warned that if Hamas does not free the remaining hostages held in Gaza by the start of Ramadan on March 10 or 11, it will keep fighting during the Muslim holy month, including in Rafah.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 29,410 people, mostly women and children, according to the latest count by Gaza’s health ministry.
Yemen’s Houthi militants have repeatedly attacked Red Sea shipping lanes vital for global trade since the conflict began, with the Houthis saying they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians.