Peace talks between Israel and Palestine were held in Jordan on Sunday, raising the hope of reduced violence, which surged in recent months and led to several dozen deaths. According to several sources including the BBC, the rare peace talks were held —with the presence of the US, Jordanian and Egyptian officials — in the Red Sea port of Aqaba leading to a joint statement of taking immediate steps to end violence, affirming their commitment to all previous agreements and working towards a just and lasting peace by the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority. Also, Israel agreed to halt its settlement extension for the next six months. Definitely, the peace effort is praiseworthy but there remain concerns.
Notably, conflicts frequently occur in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip between Palestinians and Israeli forces and lead to many deaths because of several causes including an indifference to implement the two-state solution, continued settlement building by the Israeli government and Palestinians’ attacks on Israeli forces. The main problem is that the Israel -Palestine territorial crisis, which started immediately after the Second World War and increased subsequently, has remained unsettled so far, though the two-state solution was accepted and repeated initiatives were taken by the Quartet (consisting of the United Nations, the United States, Russia and the European Union), the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the Gulf Cooperation Council and other parties including the United States to solve the problem accordingly.
The Aqaba peace Communiqué, which also includes a commitment of the parties to preserve the status quo at a contested Jerusalem holy site, may hopefully be helpful to reduce violence and the death of Israelis and Palestinians, although it will not decisively lead to a lasting peace unless associated concerns including the problem of building settlements are well-addressed. But it can pave the way for more talks that may help to resolve the crisis — as it reflects a good intention from both sides at least for ending the continued months-long violence — depending on what further steps are taken by the conflicting parties and the peace mediators following the latest development. In this respect, the seriousness of the conflicting parties is crucial.
Definitely, many peace efforts taken by the mediators failed to solve the crisis mainly because of the lack of seriousness from the conflicting parties, in terms of not only reaching the two-state solution but also ending repeated violence. It is also desired that new settlement building efforts are completely given a rethought by the Israel government and confidence building steps are emphasized between the parties. Clearly, continued conflicts for decades and the breach of peace agreements by the parties many times have led to a lack of confidence in each other. In this respect, continued peace talks, along with the implementation of the commitments made in the Aqaba peace talks, are crucial.
Amir M Sayem
Chief Editor
Dhaka Opinion Magazine
