Gaza Talks in Paris: What Do the Actors Seek?

Members of the committee of foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and Qatar discussed with French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday the developments in Gaza and efforts to reopen crossings to deliver aid to the people in the besieged enclave, reported Khaleej Online news website.

According to a statement published by the Saudi foreign ministry, the members of the committee expressed their opposition to the Israeli control over the Rafah crossing and preventing the entry of urgent humanitarian and relief aid to this part of Palestine. 

Members of the committee also highlighted the need to intensify international efforts towards an immediate and complete ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, guaranteeing the protection of civilians, and sending sufficient and sustainable humanitarian aid to all parts of Gaza.

The Arab foreign ministers also emphasized the importance of forming an independent Palestinian state within the borders of 1967 with Eastern Al-Quds (Eastern Jerusalem) as its capital. The Arab ministers stressed on the importance of the international recognition of an independent Palestinian state, especially the permanent members of the Security Council, so that the Palestinian people can obtain their legitimate rights and a comprehensive and fair peace is achieved for all.

The committee members repeated their call on the world community to make the Israeli occupation responsible for their violation of human rights and international laws. 

The Elysee Palace for its part announced in a statement that Macron and Arab ministers discussed possible ways to reopen all land crossings to Gaza to ensure the flow of necessary humanitarian aid. 

"All means to reopen the crossings must be activated to allow the delivery of emergency aid, especially through the Jordanian corridor, in a situation where more than one million people are deprived of basic goods," part of the statement said. 

French government's spokesperson noted that Macron reiterated his strong protest against Israel's attack on Rafah and his support for the return of the Palestinian Authority to Gaza.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry also announced that this visit was made at the invitation of the French leader and is part of the interest of the French side to communicate and coordinate with Arab ministers to reach a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, discuss ways to end the humanitarian crisis, and ensure the flow of aid. 

Paris meeting comes as in the last two months, international efforts in Egypt to reach a ceasefire did not go anywhere, and the hardline government of Benjamin Netanyahu even launched a ground attack on the city of Rafah, the last shelter of 1.5 million displaced Palestinians, in order to put strains on Hamas leaders. 

Arab foreign ministers committee was formed in November 2023 following a decision by extraordinary meeting of Islamic and Arab countries to investigate Israeli aggression on Gaza. Since then, this quadrilateral committee has held numerous meetings in the capitals of major countries with the aim of mobilizing international support to stop the war on Gaza. Now the Arab ministers' station is Paris to find a solution to end the conflict in Gaza.

The Arab-French moves are taking place as in recent days there have been developments in the political and legal terms against the Israeli regime. On the one hand, Spain, Ireland, and Norway announced that they recognize the independent state of Palestine, on the other hand, the International Criminal Court issued its verdict on Friday regarding the cessation of the war in Gaza and asked Tel Aviv to end the Palestinian genocide as soon as possible. Furthermore, the decisive vote of 143 countries for Palestine's membership in the UN has mounted the political pressure on Israel's Western allies to reign in this rebellious regime.

Aligning with US plans 

Paris meeting comes as the Israeli regime has recently given a green light to resumption of talks aimed at ceasefire in return for release of Israeli prisoners. In addition to France, the US has also been struggling to find a way for Israeli regime out of Gaza quagmire. Israeli Channel 13 on Thursday reported that CIA director William Burns will visit the region to discuss a prisoner swap deal. He is also slated to visit Paris to discuss a truce, and it seems that the French talks with Arab foreign ministers falls within the framework of the US policies to end Gaza war before ICC issues arrest warrant to Israeli officials. 

Odds are that France and Arab countries have plans for the political future of Gaza. The plan of handing over the administration of Gaza to the Palestinian Authority (PA) post-war, which was previously proposed by the Americans, is now circulating in the corridors of the Arab and French palaces in order to guarantee the Israeli security by disarming resistance groups. But Arab-Western motions to destroy the resistance in Gaza and return the PA to this enclave is a stillborn plan because neither resistance leaders yield to it not Gaza residents accept rule of the concilatory PA. 

In the 2007 local elections, the people of Gaza voted to drive PA out of this region, and during this period, they not only did not want its return, but also because of the compromising policies of PA President Mahmoud Abbas, their anger and aversion to the body has increased. In the past eight months, with the sacrifice of tens of thousands of martyrs and the destruction of their homes, which took place under the watch and silence of Arabs and PA, the residents of Gaza aligned more with the Palestinian resistance forces and came to the certainty that the only way to liberate the occupied territories is armed struggle and compromise to the occupiers will only add to the pain and plight.

In the eyes of the Palestinian public, if the Israelis over the past decades failed to grab further Palestinian land, it was thanks to the arms of the resistance forces, otherwise, West Bank and Gaza would have been lost to the Israeli occupation with Abbas's good service to Tel Aviv. 

French dream of return to West Asia 

Gaza war over the past eight months has provided a proper opportunity for some international actors to boost their political weight globally through mediation in Gaza war. 

Dreaming of restoring its past position in the region, France under Macron is trying to show off as a mediator in Gaza war and gain some popularity in the Arab world. But Paris beside Washington and London has provided all-out suppot to Tel Aviv, and in addition to shipments of arms, it deployed its navy ships to the Red Sea and Mediterranean to defend Israel and its interests if the need arises. 

Also, when Iran launched missile and drone attacks on the Israeli regime under Operation True Promise, France scrambled its resources to help Israel and played an important role in interception operation. 

Paris officials visited Beirut several times in the past months to convince the leaders of Lebanon's Hezbollah to stop the pro-Gaza operations against the northern occupied territories, but they also failed in this diplomatic campaign.

Because of its colonial past in the region, France considers a stake for itself in the West Asia, and so it seeks to get a toehold through de-escalation of tensions. Gaza war and the subsequent anti-Israeli operations by Iraqi resistance forces and the key role of Yemen's Ansarullah in the Red Sea against the Israeli interests showed how dangerous escalation of tensions can be to the European security and economy. Therefore, France, like Britain, is eyeing a foothold in the region to minimize the consequences of future instability on its interests. 

Though international meetings to stop Israeli crimes in Gaza are a positive move in their nature, the behind-the-scenes negotiations to disarm Gaza resistance and entrusting Israel's puppet PA with administration of Gaza will not help ease Palestinian suffering and certainly the Palestinians will not submit to this humiliation.