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West Bank tensions ‘obstacle’ to peace, says Borrell

Josep Borrell, the EU's high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, speaks at a press conference with Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky (not in the picture) after a two-day informal meeting of European Union (EU) foreign ministers in Prague, the Czech Republic, on Aug. 31, 2022. (Xinhua/Deng Yaomin/IANS)

Borrell said the EU needed to “support the Arab initiative” to establish a Palestinian state, including both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip…reports Asian Lite News

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Sunday said the situation in the Israel-occupied West Bank posed a major obstacle to finding a long-term solution for peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

“The West Bank is the real obstacle for the two-state solution,” Borrell said at the Munich Security Conference.

“The West Bank is at boiling… we could be on the eve of a greater explosion,” he said.

Around 490,000 Israelis live in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, in dozens of settlements that are deemed illegal under international law.

The settlers live alongside around three million Palestinians in the territory.

Palestinians view the Israeli settlements as a war crime and a major obstacle to peace, but many national-religious hard-liners see living there as fulfilling a divine promise.

Since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7, the number of clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinians in the West Bank has increased.

Borrell said the EU needed to “support the Arab initiative” to establish a Palestinian state, including both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Borrell’s comments come after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a plan for international recognition of such a state, following reports of such an initiative in The Washington Post.

The US newspaper reported that US President Joe Biden’s administration and a small group of Arab nations were working out a comprehensive plan for long-term peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

It included a firm timeline for the establishment of a Palestinian state, the report said.

A question mark remained over who would lead a post-war Palestinian state. The US has pinned its hopes on a reformed Palestinian Authority to be a better partner for Israel.

The Palestinian Authority, which holds limited authority in the West Bank, is led by Mahmud Abbas and his party Fatah.

Gaza has had its own separate administration run by Hamas since 2007 when Abbas loyalists were ousted from the territory.

Speaking at the Munich conference, the Palestinian prime minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said the Palestinian Authority “(does) not have a partner in Israel.”

“We need to move from talking about two states to implementation of two states,” Shtayyeh said.

The Gaza war began with Hamas’s October 7 attack which resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Militants also took about 250 people hostage, 130 of whom are still in Gaza, including 30 who are presumed dead, according to Israeli figures.

Israel’s retaliatory assault on Gaza has killed at least 28,985 people, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.

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Solution to Gaza war has to be imposed, says Borrell

A senior Hamas official was killed in an alleged Israeli drone strike on Tuesday in Beirut, Lebanon. The official, identified as Saleh al-Arouri, was the deputy head of Hamas. Israel has not disputed or acknowledged that it was the one who assassinated al-Arouri...reports Asian Lite News

The European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, stated that since neither side can agree on a solution to the Israel-Hamas war that has now entered its 90th day, the international community must impose one, Al Jazeera reported. “I believe that we have learned in these 30 years that the solution has to be imposed from outside because the two parties will never be able to reach an agreement,” Borrell said in an event in Lisbon, Portugal, on Wednesday. “If this tragedy doesn’t end soon, the entire Middle East might end up in flames,” the EU Foreign Policy Chief said.

A senior Hamas official was killed in an alleged Israeli drone strike on Tuesday in Beirut, Lebanon. The official, identified as Saleh al-Arouri, was the deputy head of Hamas. Israel has not disputed or acknowledged that it was the one who assassinated al-Arouri. However, Hamas confirmed that Israel killed its deputy commander, Saleh al-Arouri, in Lebanon on Tuesday night. “The cowardly assassinations carried out by the Zionist occupation against the leaders and symbols of our Palestinian people inside and outside Palestine will not succeed in breaking the will and steadfastness of our people or in undermining the continuation of their valiant resistance,” senior Hamas official Izzat al-Rishq said in a statement, according to The Times of Israel. Meanwhile, Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, condemned the alleged killing of Saleh al-Arouri. He issued a statement responding to the alleged killing of Hamas deputy leader, terming it a “new Israeli crime” and forewarned, saying Tel Aviv is aiming to drag Lebanon into the conflict.

Al-Arouri, 57, a resident of Lebanon, served as the political bureau’s deputy director for the group and was regarded as the de facto head of Hamas’s military branch in the West Bank. He was freed from Israeli prisons in March 2010 after serving many periods there as part of negotiations to secure a bigger prisoner swap for Gilad Shalit, an IDF soldier who was abducted by Hamas in 2006. Later, Arouri was instrumental in negotiating Shalit’s 2011 release in exchange for the release of over 1,000 Palestinian detainees from Israeli prisons, The Times of Israel reported. He moved to Istanbul but was forced to move from there after Israel restored relations with Turkey after the two countries had cut their ties over an IDF attack on a Gaza-bound solidarity flotilla that resulted in the deaths of nine Turkish citizens in a bloody altercation aboard a ship. Al-Arouri resided in Syria before relocating to Beirut.

The conflict in Gaza escalated after the October 7 attack by Hamas, where about 2,500 breached the border into Israel from the Gaza Strip, leading to casualties and the seizure of hostages. Israel, since the war began, has characterized its Gaza offensive as targeting Hamas’ infrastructure to eliminate the entire group while making efforts to minimize civilian casualties. Reportedly, the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry claimed that over 20,000 people have been killed in the Strip during the war, an unverified figure that also does not differentiate between combatants and civilians and does not take into account those killed as a consequence of groups’ rocket misfires. Whereas, recently, the Israeli forces identified several launches from Lebanon towards the area of Adamit in northern Israel on Monday. According to Israeli assessments, troops have killed some 8,500 operatives since the war began. (ANI)

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Borrell expects pact on Iran N-deal soon

Borrell recently circulated compromise proposals for an agreement text among Iran and United States’ negotiators, describing the response he received from both sides as reasonable…reports Asian Lite News

EU foreign policy Josep Borrell said in Prague that he was sure negotiations to restore the nuclear agreement with Iran could soon be successfully concluded.

“To me it’s clear that there is a common ground, that we have an agreement that takes into account, I think, everyone’s concerns,” he said in a press conference on Wednesday after a meeting of EU Foreign Ministers.

Efforts are underway to revive the 2015 Vienna agreement to set controls on Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief. Tehran insists its nuclear research activities are solely for civilian use.

The initial deal was struck in 2015, but fell apart a few years later during the US presidency of Donald Trump, who pulled out of the deal. EU negotiators have said a new version of the deal has been worked out and is only awaiting a yes or no from both sides.

Borrell recently circulated compromise proposals for an agreement text among Iran and United States’ negotiators, describing the response he received from both sides as reasonable.

“I am hoping that in the coming days we are not going to lose this momentum and we can close the deal,” the EU official said.

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Borrell rejects blanket ban on Russians entering EU

Borrell said it was necessary to review some visa processes to certain groups of Russians but rejected a blanket ban…reports Asian Lite News

The European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has said that a complete ban on Russians entering the bloc was “not a good idea”, amid reports that member states were preparing to suspend a visa agreement with Moscow.

“I am not in favour of stopping delivering visas to all Russians,” Borrell told Austrian broadcaster ORF in an interview.

He said he didn’t believe that cutting off contact with Russian civilians would have positive results, and he also said he did not believe the idea would achieve the required unanimity among member states.

Borrell said it was necessary to review some visa processes to certain groups of Russians but rejected a blanket ban.

“We have to be selective, we cannot take a general measure,” he said, adding that he was sure there would be a balanced approach from EU foreign ministers due to meet in the coming week.

The idea of restricting Russian tourists to the EU has emerged recently after countries witnessed Russians arriving for summer holidays via neighbouring EU countries.

A visa issued by any one country grants access to all 26 members of the Schengen passport-free zone.

The Financial Times had earlier reported that EU member states were preparing to suspend a 2007 visa facilitation agreement with Russia over the Ukraine war.

EU foreign ministers are set to give the suspension political backing at a two-day informal meeting in Prague on Tuesday and Wednesday, the British newspaper said, citing three officials involved in the talks.

The move would widen the partial suspension imposed in February for Russian government officials and business leaders to now include civilian Russian applicants for EU visas, the Financial Times said.

Suspensions make the EU visa process more complicated, more expensive and more bureaucratic, as well as increasing waiting times for approval, according to European Commission guidelines.

Further measures to restrict EU travel for Russian nationals, such as a limit on the amount of EU visas to be issued or to ban travel entirely, have not been decided, the Financial Times said, citing the officials participating in the negotiations.

The Czech Republic, Finland and Estonia, after imposing their own visa restrictions, have pushed for an EU-wide decision and called for a total ban on Russian nationals travelling to the bloc.

Germany and the commission, however, have urged caution against banning tourist visas or prohibiting Russian nationals from travelling to the bloc completely. Critics have also raised humanitarian concerns.

The European Union has already slapped Russia with multiple rounds of political and economic sanctions after February’s invasion of Ukraine including a ban on Russian airlines from EU airspace.

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Tensions on Ukraine’s borders to be discussed at EU summit: Borrell

Calling Moscow aggression as “malign behaviour” against Kyiv, the host country, the UK called for obstructing the intention of both Russia and China…reports Asian Lite News.

Amid soaring tension between Russia and Ukraine, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell announced to discuss the matter at the EU summit on December 16, Thursday. “This topic (Ukraine tensions) remains high on the agenda, it will be taken up also at the European Council leaders meeting on Thursday,” he said.

Further, he added that the European Union wanted to send a clear message to Moscow “if it tries to invade Ukraine, the country has to suffer in terms of politically and economically.”  Earlier on Saturday, the top diplomats of the Group of Seven (G7) pitched their voices against Moscow aggression. The diplomats who were gathered beside the River Mersey in Liverpool urged the countries to unite against Russia’s intent to evade Ukraine.

Calling Moscow aggression as “malign behaviour” against Kyiv, the host country, the UK called for obstructing the intention of both Russia and China. British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, who welcomed US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the other G-7 counterparts at the Museum of Liverpool on Saturday, appealed to the nations to defend themselves against the soaring threats from “malicious” actors.

“We need to defend ourselves against the growing threats from hostile actors,” AP quoted Truss as saying to the inter-governmental political forum that consists of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Notably, a statement from the British Foreign Secretary came two days after POTUS Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin held a video call on several issues, particularly Ukraine. According to US intelligence input, around 70,000 Russian troops are pressed near the Ukraine border by Putin and the forces have reportedly made all preparations to “invade Ukraine” next year.

In response, the US on multiple occasions warned Russia to impose economic sanctions. “You can call that a threat. You can call that a fact. You can call that preparation. You can call it whatever you want to call it,” said White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki during a presser earlier this week. 

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