Paulo Rangel stated that despite the process announced by US President Donald Trump to establish a ceasefire in the Palestinian territory of the Gaza Strip, “there are negative signs.”
The Portuguese minister cited “the settlers’ signal,” already “strongly condemned by Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom, and France,” in a joint statement by the diplomats of these nations, mentioning that Portugal is aligned with them.
“We have the expansion of settlements, which is at an unprecedented level and endangers Trump’s plan. Not in Gaza, but obviously in strengthening the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, a very important aspect,” said Paulo Rangel, speaking in Barcelona, Spain, on the sidelines of the 10th Regional Forum of the Union for the Mediterranean.
Rangel noted that, nonetheless, there is currently “a real opportunity for peace” in the region with “Trump’s plan.”
“It’s not a perfect plan, but we know in Portuguese that perfect is the enemy of good. We have to start with what is feasible and possible. And without a doubt, Trump’s plan is the opportunity we have,” he argued, reiterating that there are, however, signals like the “expansion of the settlements” and the “rise of settler violence against Palestinian populations” that are “bad indicators” as they “greatly compromise the post-stabilization objectives of Gaza.”
“But I have no doubt that if there is a moment of opportunity for peace, in what is the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, Israel, it’s now, although it is extremely fragile and unpredictable,” he added.
According to United Nations data, over a thousand Palestinians have died in the West Bank between October 7, 2023—the start of the war in the Gaza Strip—and mid-November of this year, in attacks attributed to violent settlers or the Israeli army.
October recorded more settler attacks in the West Bank (264) than any other month since data collection began in 2006, coinciding with violent raids by Jewish residents in the territory’s olive groves during the last olive harvest campaign.
The European diplomacy chief, Kaja Kallas, also remarked today, at the kickoff of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) meeting in Barcelona, that there is “a genuine opportunity for peace” in Gaza.
Kaja Kallas stated that the most recent United Nations Security Council resolution regarding the Palestinian territory of Gaza is “a real opportunity for lasting peace in the region with global support, and this is essential.”
The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy assured that the EU will continue to support the Palestinian Authority and work for the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, a territory whose conflict with the radical Islamist group Hamas has persisted for the last two years.
Meanwhile, the Jordanian Foreign Minister, Ayman Safadi, who co-chaired the UfM meeting with Kaja Kallas, insisted that peace and prosperity in the Middle East and the entire Mediterranean are only possible with the “two-state solution,” which Israel rejects. He urged the European Union to uphold international law globally, including in the Middle East, where it is systematically disregarded by the Tel Aviv government.
The foreign ministers of the 27 European Union (EU) members, alongside representatives from 16 other Mediterranean countries and the European Commission, convened in Barcelona today to discuss the “alarming situation” in the Middle East and cooperation across the Mediterranean, during the annual ministerial meeting of the UfM.
The meeting has been marked in the past two years by the war in the Palestinian territory of the Gaza Strip and the absence of one of the member countries of the organization, Israel, which, however, returned this year through a representative from its embassy in Spain.
Syria also returned to the annual UfM forum this year, held in Barcelona, after years of absence.
The UfM was established in 2008, comprising the European Commission and 43 countries—the 27 EU states along with 16 other Mediterranean nations from Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East, including Palestine, not officially recognized as a state by several countries within the organization.
