ARAB STATES URGE HAMAS TO STEP ASIDE FOR PEACE PLAN LONG REJECTED BY ISRAEL

Thu 31 July 2025:

In a bid to salvage the two-state solution long dismissed by Israel, Arab states have urged Hamas to relinquish power in Gaza. Seventeen countries, including Arab League members, Turkiye and the European Union, have issued a joint call for Hamas to step aside and cede governance of Gaza to the Palestinian Authority, in what is seen as a last-ditch effort to preserve the two-state framework.

The appeal, delivered at a UN session in New York yesterday, comes despite Israel’s repeated rejection of Arab-led peace initiatives that promised full normalisation in exchange for ending Israel’s illegal occupation and recognising a Palestinian state.

“In the context of ending the war in Gaza, Hamas must end its rule in Gaza and hand over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority, with international engagement and support, in line with the objective of a sovereign and independent Palestinian State,” read the joint declaration, signed by 17 countries.

The statement also condemned both the 7 October attacks carried out by Hamas and Israel’s continued genocide in Gaza, including the targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure, the use of siege and starvation as weapons, and the imposition of a full blockade.

It called for a halt to Israeli settlement construction and land confiscation in the occupied West Bank, affirmed the 1967 borders as the basis for a future Palestinian state, and emphasised the right of return for Palestinian refugees expelled during the 1948 Nakba.

The statement marked a rare and coordinated diplomatic intervention, emerging from a session co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia. Initially planned for June, the event was postponed as efforts continued to consolidate an international consensus on Palestinian sovereignty. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot described the “New York Declaration” as “historic and unprecedented.”

Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan urged states to support the declaration, while France and the UK announced that they would recognise a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September unless Israel takes concrete steps to end its war on Gaza and revive peace negotiations.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced the moves, calling them a “reward for Hamas’s monstrous terrorism.” Reports from Israel’s Channel 12 indicated that Tel Aviv may retaliate by accelerating illegal annexation of occupied Palestinian territory, including parts of Gaza.

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Israel and the US boycotted the session

The joint declaration highlighted the growing impatience within the international community with both Israel’s refusal to end its occupation and the failure of Hamas and the Palestinian Authority to reconcile under a unified national framework.

Israel has never shown interest in the Arab world’s long-standing offer of peace, consistently choosing colonial expansion over coexistence. There is little reason to believe that the Arab League’s latest appeal to Hamas will prompt the occupation state to reconsider its position.

The 2002 Arab Peace Initiative—first proposed by then Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah at the Beirut Summit—offered Israel full normalisation of ties with the entire Arab world in exchange for a complete withdrawal from territories occupied since 1967, a just solution for Palestinian refugees under UN General Assembly Resolution 194, and the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Despite repeated reaffirmations by the Arab League, Israel has persistently rejected the offer. Rather than engage diplomatically, successive Israeli governments have entrenched the occupation and expanded illegal settlements, deepening the reality of apartheid and undermining any prospect of a viable Palestinian state.

-MEMO

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