Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator
On April 17, the Defense Minister of Saudi Arabia, Prince Khalid Bin Salman al-Saud, met with the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei, in Tehran. Prince Khalid is the son of King Salman, and brother of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
In March 2023, China brokered a restoration of the diplomatic relationship between Iran and Saudi Arabia, and the relationship between the two powerful countries has continued to grow.
"It is much better for brothers in the region to cooperate and help each other rather than to rely on others," Khamenei said after the meeting.
On July 23, 2024, the Beijing Declaration was signed with 14 Palestinian factions, including Hamas and Fatah. The agreement sought unity among the Palestinian political groups. The main point was to form an interim government of national reconciliation including the West Bank and Gaza.
Hamas, for the first time, agreed to the establishment of a Palestinian state according to UN resolutions. However, President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank has not moved to implement the declaration.
In the West Bank, armed Israeli settlers are allowed to attack, kill and destroy property of Palestinians who have lived there for thousands of years. Many of the illegal settlers are US citizens, and religious extremists.
The genocide in Gaza is ongoing and US President Trump offered a plan to take Gaza into US possession, drive out the Palestinians, like the US government drove out the Native Americans, and turn the strip into a "Riviera". His arrogant plan may have been a negotiating tactic, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu endorsed it.
When Netanyahu came into office, he declared two main goals. Firstly, to increase the illegal settlements on the West Bank, and secondly, to sign a normalization agreement with Saudi Arabia. The October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, and the ensuing attack on Gaza, halted the path towards normalization, as Saudi Arabia has been firm they will not sign until there is a two-state solution.
Many experts see the continuing Israeli attacks in the West Bank as a prelude to ethnic cleansing. Egypt, Jordan and Syria have been proposed to take in 5 million Palestinians, thus exterminating any two-state solution.
UNRWA has reported that since March 2, no aid has entered Gaza. The UN mission for refugees runs 115 shelters in Gaza holding 90,000 internally displaced persons. Gaza lacks food, clean water, sanitation, medicines and medical care. There is no security in Gaza, as the Israel carries out airstrikes and its ground forces attack families who have nowhere to hide.
Steven Sahiounie of MidEastDiscourse interviewed Professor Kamel Hawwash, a Palestinian writer and analyst in Birmingham, UK.
1. Steven Sahiounie (SS): US President Donald Trump announced his vision for the future of the Gaza Strip. What is your view on Trump's plan?
Kamel Hawwash (KH): The so-called Trump plan is a commitment to ethnic cleansing through forced displacement of the people of the land, and is completely unacceptable. If he were really concerned for the Palestinians in Gaza, he would compel Israel to allow them into its lands, while reconstruction took place, and then they would return. However, he sees the land as a real estate deal for him and his friends. It will not end the Palestinian injustice and will not bring peace to the region.
2. SS: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is insisting on the two-State solution before signing a normalization agreement with Israel. In your opinion, will it happen?
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