Gaza, West Bank escalation makes two-state solution ‘impossible'

ABU DHABI: A top official within the US-backed Board of Peace on Monday said a failure to move forward in Gaza paired with rising violence in the West Bank were making a two-state solution 'impossible.' Nickolay Mladenov, the high representative for Gaza under the US-backed 'Board of Peace' tasked with implementing an October ceasefire plan, was speaking at the Hili Forum in Abu Dhabi. 'I would say that if Gaza continues the way it is now, or does not move into implementing ... the plan that we have under the comprehensive plan, the two-state solution will become practically impossible,' he said. FAST FACT More than 500,000 Israelis live in illegal settlements in the Palestinian territory, home to some 3 million Palestinians. 'Because, with everything that is happening in the West Bank, and with more than 50 percent of Gaza now under the control of the Israeli army and less than 50 percent under the control of Hamas, there is no credible pathway forward to a political resolution of the conflict,' he added. 'The only way that we can build back to that is if we have transitional governance, if we have decommissioning of weapons, if we have withdrawal in Gaza,' he said. A roadmap agreed by Hamas on July 30 said that the decommissioning of weapons would be supervised by the International Stabilization Force, a nascent unit set to deploy to Gaza if the situation calms. It is led by US Major General Jasper Jeffers. Hamas had pledged to hand over its weapons to a new Palestinian governing body, an arrangement that was met with skepticism from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but which US President Donald Trump hailed as a breakthrough. The occupied West Bank has also seen a surge in violence since the outbreak of war in the Gaza Strip following Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. More than 500,000 Israelis live in illegal settlements in the Palestinian territory, home to some 3 million Palestinians. In response to Mladenov's remarks, Hamas urged the envoy to push forward with reconstruction efforts. 'We call on Mladenov to fulfil his role by pressing Israel to abide by what was agreed,' Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said. On Sunday Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump's son-in-law and a US envoy, told a press briefing in Kyiv that the upcoming Israeli elections were making Israeli leaders 'a little irrational' on Gaza. 'We agree with them on the end state,' Kushner said, referring to Israel. 'They just have a crazy election and that makes them a little irrational in certain regards but we're very determined and we're working through these things.' 'You can't go in if there's guns,' he said, adding: 'we're now starting to understand the scope of the militarization of Gaza. It is beyond your comprehension. And so demilitarizing it is not going to be easy.'