The Europeans have introduced a resolution in the United Nations that ignores resolutions
242 and 338 and would have us return to the situation above - the
division of Jerusalem based on the 1949 armistice lines.
A senior European diplomat told Walla! on Thursday that the
resolution proposal includes the removal of the blockade on Gaza,
transferring control of the Hamas stronghold to the Palestinian
Authority (PA), and a return to peace talks based on the 1949 Armistice
lines.
The specific imposition of pre-defined conditions in peace talks
through a UN resolution, namely that they would be on the basis of the
1949 lines, is something that the US has been opposing for years.
On the other hand, the US proposed the 1949 lines as a basis in
framework proposals submitted earlier in the year, before the
nine-month long negotiations with the PA failed in April as the PA
signed a unity treaty with Hamas.
...
According to the European diplomat who spoke on Thursday, the
European proposal would have both sides stop attacking and define
detailed security arrangements for removing the blockade while
preventing an influx of weapons to Hamas.
"As far as Europe is concerned, it's impossible to separate the issue
of Gaza from the general Palestinian issue. Only a sustainable
diplomatic solution will bring a long quiet for the two peoples," said
the European source.
He added that France put pressure on the US through diplomatic
channels to publish US Secretary of State John Kerry's framework plan
after the Israel-PA negotiations collapsed, so as to turn it into a
program for the international community to pursue.
For it's part, Israel reportedly is distancing itself from the
European proposal, primarily due to the call for 1949 Armistice lines as
a basis for talks.
An Israeli diplomatic source said Thursday that Israel has not ruled
out renewed truce talks in Cairo, but expects Hamas to completely end
its rocket barrage first. Hamas has broken numerous ceasefires through
the course of Operation Protective Edge, most recently this Tuesday.
I wouldn't expect any better of the Europeans. The problem is that at the moment, we can't expect any better of the President of the United States either.
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