Opening remarks by HR/VP Kaja Kallas at the High-Level Ministerial of the Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution

One year ago, 142 countries endorsed the New York Declaration for the Implementation of the two-State solution. This is a manifestation of support by the overwhelming majority of the world’s countries, not only for the creation of a Palestinian state, alongside the state of Israel, but of the means to make it happen.

We deeply regret that Prime Minister Mustafa cannot join us today in person but has to be via VTC. Because clearly, if you look around the room, you can see that the weight of the world is behind building a better future for the Palestinian people. 

Since the New York Declaration was signed, US engagement led to the Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict which was endorsed by UN Security Council Resolution 2803. 

The Palestinian Authority has been working on concrete progress on reform and in extremely difficult circumstances. Also reform needs to continue, not least because it is a key condition in the Gaza Peace Plan.

Despite the challenging context in Palestine, the Palestinian Authority is also preparing for legislative elections, which the European Union fully supports. These have to take place.

The High Representative for Gaza, Nickolay Mladenov, has been leading important efforts to advance the implementation of the Gaza Peace Plan, including via a roadmap for decommissioning and Israeli withdrawal. 

All this comes at a time of elections, for Palestinians and Israelis. We should embrace this unique moment and the opportunities it may open.

However, and this is a big however, the ambition of our Global Alliance, and indeed of the New York Declaration, is increasingly at odds with the hard realities on the ground. 

In Gaza, progress on the ground remains far too limited: strikes continue, humanitarian needs remain acute, and too many commitments have yet to translate into tangible improvements for Palestinians in Gaza.

In the West Bank, we continue to see unlimited violence, as well as settlement expansion undermining the viability of the two-State solution.

Therefore, our task today is not to reaffirm our support for the goal of this group but to close the gap between commitments, our actions and the realities on the ground. To move from preserving to realising.

The New York Declaration and UN Security Council Resolution 2803 still constitute the best roadmap to end the suffering in Gaza, create security both for Palestinians and Israelis, and preserve a credible pathway towards the two-State solution. Respectively, they provide a guiding framework and operating steps for stabilisation and early recovery. 

The European Union is actively engaged to preserve stability and economic sustainability in the West Bank, kickstart Gaza’s early recovery with our Team Gaza Initiative and continue to take concrete steps to implement the two-State solution. We have two pilot projects on water and waste management which Commissioner Šuica will later explain.

Our collective responsibility is to demonstrate in practice that two States living side by side in peace and security remains the best course to build comprehensive, just, and lasting peace for Palestine and Israel, and for the region as a whole. 

Thank you.