MUNICH: There is “an extraordinary opportunity” in the coming months for Israel to normalise ties with its Arab neighbours, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Saturday, while also emphasising the need for the creation of a Palestinian state.

The top US diplomat said there were genuine efforts led by Arab countries to revitalise the Palestinian Authority so it can be more effecting in representing the Palestinians.

“Virtually every Arab country now genuinely wants to integrate Israel into the region to normalise relations...to provide security commitments and assurances so that Israel can feel more safe,” Blinken said during a panel discussion at the annual Munich Security Conference.

“And there’s also, I think the imperative, that’s more urgent than ever, to proceed to a Palestinian state that also ensures the security of Israel,” he added.

The Biden administration has been working to secure a mega-deal that will see ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel normalise. The Saudi as well as other Arab countries are seeking the creation of a Palestinian state as part of the deal.

On Friday, Biden called for a temporary truce in Gaza for a potential prisoner swap deal. He said he had held “extensive” conversations with Israel’s Prime Minister Ben­jamin Netanyahu on this and negotiations were “underway”.

Ceasefire

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh on Saturday reiterated the group’s several demands, including an end to fighting in Gaza. “The resistance will not agree to anything less than ceasefire, withdrawing of the occupying army from the Strip, lifting the oppressive blockade, and providing safe shelter for the displaced people,” he said.

He insisted that those displaced from the north be returned to their areas in the territory. He also called for the release of Hamas prisoners.

Hamas threatened to suspend ceasefire talks unless urgent aid was brought into the north of the Gaza Strip, where aid agencies have warned of a looming famine. “Negotiations cannot be held while hunger is ravaging the Palestinian people,” a senior source in the Palestinian group told AFP.

Talks have been held in the Egyptian capital Cairo this week to bring about a pause in fighting in Israel’s four-month-old war with Hamas in Gaza.

‘Not very promising’

Talks between Israel and Hamas to agree to a ceasefire in Gaza were “not really very promising” in recent days, the prime minister of Qatar, a key mediator for the negotiations, said Saturday.

“I believe that we can see a deal happening very soon. Yet the pattern in the last few days is not really very promising,” Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said at the Munich Security Conference. “We will always remain optimistic, we will always remain pushing,” he added.

Published in Dawn, February 18th, 2024