Gaza Stalemate Could Make Two-State Solution Impossible, US-Backed Official Warns

Mladenov says continued fighting, Israeli control of Gaza and rising West Bank violence are blocking a credible path to a political settlement

A senior official with the US-backed Board of Peace has warned that continued failure to advance the Gaza ceasefire plan, coupled with escalating violence in the occupied West Bank, could make a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict “practically impossible.”

Nickolay Mladenov, the Board of Peace’s high representative for Gaza, made the remarks on Monday at the Hili Forum in Abu Dhabi.

Mladenov said the situation in Gaza, combined with developments in the West Bank, was undermining prospects for a political resolution of the conflict.

“I would say that if Gaza continues the way it is now, or does not move into implementing... the plan that we have under the comprehensive plan, the two-state solution will become practically impossible,” he said.

He pointed to the division of control in Gaza, saying more than 50 per cent of the territory was currently under the control of the Israeli army, while less than 50 per cent remained under Hamas.

“Because, with everything that is happening in the West Bank, and with more than 50 percent of Gaza now under the control of the Israeli army and less than 50 percent under the control of Hamas, there is no credible pathway forward to a political resolution of the conflict,” Mladenov said.

He said a transition towards a political settlement would require temporary governance arrangements, the decommissioning of weapons and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

“The only way that we can build back to that is if we have transitional governance, if we have decommissioning of weapons, if we have withdrawal in Gaza,” he said.

A roadmap agreed by Hamas on July 30 called for the decommissioning of weapons to be supervised by the International Stabilization Force, an emerging unit expected to deploy to Gaza if security conditions improve. The force is led by US Major General Jasper Jeffers.